LOUISVILLE, CO: Two Monarch High students competed against more than 1,600 teams of students nationwide in the spring and placed fifth in the SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game™ – “Capitol Hill Challenge.” They won a June trip to Washington, D.C., where they and the rest of the top five teams met with Members of Congress and were recognized at a special awards ceremony.

Mehmed Erkocevic and William Warrilow, both sophomores at the time of the competition, were instructed by Rudy Sumpter, who has been using the Stock Market Game™ in his classroom for seven years. Erkocevic and Warrilow will be juniors at Monarch High School in 2011-12.

“I am extremely proud of Mehmed and Billy,” said Sumpter. “The Stock Market Game™ – ‘Capitol Hill Challenge’ gave these students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge about business and their analytical skills in finance.”

At the Capitol Hill Challenge Awards Ceremony that was held in Washington, DC, SIFMA Executive Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy, Ken Bentsen provided a summary of the Capitol Hill Challenge and the value that SIFMA and the SIFMA Foundation place on financial literacy. Representative Judy Biggert (R IL), the co-chair of the House Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus, presented the awards to all the winning teams. 

The “Capitol Hill Challenge” is open to high school students across the country where students participate in the Stock Market Game™ over a 14-week period. This year saw a record number of participants with over 1,600 teams, 6,500 students and more than 200 schools participating in this real-world education program that aids students in financial literacy.
 
The five teams with the highest return on their portfolio won a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet Members of Congress, tour the nation's Capitol, and see first-hand how our national economic policies are developed. The teams represented the following schools:

• Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville, Ill. total portfolio value $171,640.60
• Oak Hill High School, Sabattus, Maine total portfolio value $132,328.66
• Westby High School, Westby, Mont. total portfolio value $130,233.15
• Mayfield High School, Las Cruces, N.M. total portfolio value $123,630.43
• Monarch High School, Louisville, Colo.  Total portfolio value $123,093.69
   

“Having my own students win in the ‘Capitol Hill Challenge’ reinforces my resolve to keep pushing for more community involvement in the education of our young people,” said Monarch Teacher Rudy Sumpter.

Videos of the awards ceremony are online at http://www.sifma.org/CHC-Awards/