https://eu.lohud.com/story/news/education/2026/03/26/yonkers-students-prepare-for-financial-world-with-junior-achievement-stock-market-challenge/89182283007/
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NEW ROCHELLE – Floor traders scuttled between tables, taking orders for stocks as real-time prices crawled across a glowing red-and-green market board overhead.
The breathless atmosphere resembled the intensity of a stock exchange floor, except this was a stock market competition involving 96 juniors from Yonkers high schools.
Students, working in teams of four, traded 24 fictious stocks in a 60-minute simulation representing 60 trading days, responding to news alerts that could affect stock prices. Each team started with a $500,000 portfolio and the three teams with the highest gains were declared winners.
This is the first regional stock market competition organized by Junior Achievement, a nonprofit that aims to inspire and prepare young people for the global economy. Three winning teams – one from Lincoln High School and two from Yonkers Middle High School – will face off against teams from New York City and Long Island in April.
How Junior Achievement of New York promotes financial literacy
Catherine Danyko-Sage, Long Island and Lower Hudson Valley programs senior director at Junior Achievement of New York, said the competition is part of the organization’s financial literacy program. It’s aimed at exposing students to the world of business and finance, with a goal of helping them gain confidence navigating real-world financial decisions.
The curriculum focused on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The organization also facilitates career fairs and job-shadowing opportunities.
“We’re offering students opportunities that they don’t normally get. We’re preparing them to make smart financial decisions when they leave high school,” Danyko-Sage said.
“We believe in starting early. We begin talking to kindergarten students about needs, wants and choices then build up on that,” Danyko-Sage added. “We teach how those decisions impact you, your family and your community.”
Simulated stock market competition boosts confidence and teamwork
Beneath the glowing market board, 96 students divided into 24 teams were analyzing company portfolios, discussing trading strategies and raising their hands to buy and sell stocks. The students came from four high schools in Yonkers, including Lincoln High School, Roosevelt High School, Yonkers Middle High School and Yonkers Montessori Academy.
The competition, hosted at LaPenta School of Business at Iona University, was the culmination of a series of classroom instruction and simulation. Now in its third year, Junior Achievement’s stock market challenge incorporates lessons on investing, portfolio development and risk management. The tally of participants has grown from 350 students to about 1,200 high school students from low-and-modest income communities across Westchester County, New York City and Long Island.
Drilon Gojani, a finance teacher at Lincoln High School, said the goal is to help students gain confidence in investment and decision-making. Stock investment lessons also teach life skills such as resilience, teamwork and long-term planning.
“There’s the possibility to create wealth and there’s also the possibility of losing money,” Gojani said. “I always tell students [the] strategy – even when the stock market is not doing well – continuing to invest over 10 to 15 years yields greater return on average than leaving money in a saving account.”
The post-pandemic bull market has drawn more working-class investors than ever into the stock market, even minting some amateur millionaires. Since the beginning of 2020, the S&P 500 earnings per share has climbed nearly 130%, according to FactSet.
Yonkers Middle High School junior Jonas Chen and his team started with eight stocks spanning industries from technology to retail. He said he relied on common sense and stayed alert when making trading decisions. For example, his team increased its shares in a mining company after receiving a news alert that the company had discovered a mineral deposit.
For some students, the experience not only offered a taste of real-world investing but also sparked an interest in finance.
Christian Mazzarese, a freshman at Iona University and a Yonkers graduate, was inspired to learn about finance and money management after participating in a previous stock market challenge. He made his first investment during his junior year of high school, using part of his allowance and earned about $500 over a year with a portfolio that included Tesla and Nvidia.
“I had no knowledge about this before my first finance class in high school. I had just come out of middle school and just wanted to play video game all day,” Mazzarese said. “The hands-on experience and simulation gave me confidence.”
Financial literacy education gains momentum in NY
Education in financial literacy has gained momentum as financial decisions become increasingly complex and the cost of living continues to rise.
New York state has required instruction in personal finance for K-12 public school students. Implementation for middle and high schools is set to begin in the 2026-27 school year, while elementary schools are required to begin in 2027-28. The state has joined about 40 others that require a personal finance course for high school graduation.
In the Lower Hudson Valley, Mahopac became the first in the state to make personal finance literacy a graduation requirement.
The Junior Achievement of New York, founded in 1929, works with school districts, including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Ossining, White Plains and East Rampo, to provide programs focused on financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, taught by volunteers from local business community.
Helu Wang covers economic growth, real estate and education for The Journal News/lohud and USA Today Network. Reach her at hwang@gannett.com and follow her @helu.wangny on Instagram.
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