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Eighth-grade students at Janitell Junior High are getting a hands-on lesson in economics and personal finance through a highly engaging stock market simulation. This collaborative project, developed between the entrepreneurship and social studies departments, aims to provide students with practical knowledge of markets, ownership, and financial decision-making.

Watch the Students Learn Stock Market video.

The simulation is a cross-curricular effort involving Miss Richards (entrepreneurship), Miss Cook and Mr. Bush (eighth-grade social studies), and Dustin Flesher, librarian, who developed the custom technology.

The process begins in the entrepreneurship class where students establish corporations and produce 3D prints that are sold at Janitell’s library store “The Jag Mart.” The corporations track their profits and production data. 

Next, the eighth-grade social studies students take on the role of investors. They participate in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) for the student corporations and gain the ability to trade stock with each other. The stock prices are designed to float, or change, based on the actual market transactions for the corporate products.

"The ultimate goal is to teach students about, markets and, ownership and private property and shares, market shares, in, in a capitalist economy like the United States,” said Dustin Flesher.
 

The simulation strongly connects with Colorado's eighth-grade standards for economics and personal finance, specifically addressing concepts like private property, markets, economic systems, and ownership. It also reinforces eighth-grade U.S. history curriculum, which covers the colonial period through Reconstruction. Market economies, joint stock companies, and the stock markets were key features of the economies during that historical scope, making the simulation a relevant, real-world tie-in to their studies.

The simulation is powered by custom-developed technology. Flesher, who has a technology background, developed several scripts with the assistance of AI to build the platform more quickly. This platform allows students to conduct trades and negotiate the buying and selling of shares. Students can also check their standings and see who has the most equity. 

"I think it's going to help students make better decisions in their lives. And it's also going to help them understand how our society operates so that they can be better informed citizens so that when they're voting in elections, they have an idea about how economics works," said Flesher. 

Looking ahead, the team is discussing ways to integrate the simulation even more tightly into the eighth-grade curriculum, perhaps timing it to align with the study of the colonial period (joint stock companies) or the Industrial Revolution, to make the lessons learned even more impactful.