The Capitol Hill Challenge (CHC) matches Members of Congress with students, teachers, and schools competing in The Stock Market Game™ in their respective district or state. Student teams manage a hypothetical $100,000 online portfolio and invest in real stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The top 10 CHC teams in the nation will win a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet their Member of Congress and be recognized at an awards reception on Capitol Hill. During their visit, students and teachers will meet with business, government, and education leaders to learn about fiscal policy making, the role of the capital markets, and global economic trends. The winners will also have the opportunity to tour financial landmarks and national monuments.
Mr. Corbin’s Personal Finance classes have participated the last four years and have placed in the top ten in three of those four years. They outperformed roughly 4300 teams across the United States each year to place in 4th, 6th, and 10th places. Students use the state of Michigan Stock Market Game™ to learn real life skills about investing for education, a down payment on a house, and retirement savings. They have taken first place (and most of the top ten) in nearly every state competition for the last seven years. Students will branch out into much more risky, aggressive, securities transactions in the Capitol Hill Challenge as the competition is extremely fierce from across the nation. Historically speaking, a team of five students will need to turn their $100,000 into at least $150,000 in 60 trading days to even have a chance at making the top ten. Last Year, a team of five girls from Personal Finance, Shelbi Adams, Emily Bride, Kaylah VandeGutche, Melissa Powell, and Sydney Colegrove, managed to take 4th place in the nation by turning $100, 000 into an astounding $158,719.65 in only three months. Some highlights of their amazing, all expenses-paid, trip to Washington DC are below.
The all-expense paid trip included round trip airfare, all hotel accommodations, meals, and a free Metro Pass. They attended two awards ceremonies and met with Congressman Bill Huizenga and Senator Gary Edwards from Michigan. The girls were also able to tour one of the Smithsonian Museums, the Capitol, and all of the major monuments and memorials. Breakfast and lunch were provided for them as the met with business leaders and professionals from organizations such as Morgan Stanley and FINRA. Since the hotel was in the heart of DC they were also within a short walking distance of the White House, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Treasury Building and much more. They made new friends as they met and talked with other winning teams from across the country.