Throughout March, ModIT, the coding and investing club of Townsend Harris High School will be hosting a free schoolwide investing competition in which participating students will have the chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. This event will take place using Marketwatch, an online stock market simulator that offers financial analysis and stock market data. 

President of ModIT, sophomore Anton Rud, said the club’s main inspiration for conducting this competition was due to the fact that THHS had never hosted one. “We believed that we were the ones to make it happen,” he said.

The purpose of the competition is to provide students the opportunity to gain an understanding of investing fundamentals, stock analysis, and risk management. As part of the competition, students receive $100,000 in virtual cash to trade. 

Anton said, “I hope what people will take away from this competition is critical life skills when it comes to managing money. With good money management, you can retire earlier and live a more healthy and fulfilling life.” 

The competition does not require any experience, said Vice President junior Christelle Diab. It will be “accessible to members and outside participants at all times,” she said.

Although this is ModIT’s first time promoting an investing competition, the club has held web development competitions and Tetris tournaments in the past. ModIT has two departments: coding and investing, which both engage participants with interactive activities, Kahoot or group workshops to enforce their knowledge on the topics discussed.

Christelle said, “Participants favor activities that result in rewards, so we decided to announce our virtual investing competition that will introduce students to possible future successes and failures alongside a prize for the winner at the end of the month.”