“I really liked having a lot of money to invest from the beginning, and knowing that because it is a simulation, that I can have a high-risk strategy without losing sleep at night.” 

-Jacob, JA Investment Strategies student 

July 18, 2022Jacob is one of over 5,700 B.C. youth who learned how to save and invest for their future through the JA Investment Strategies Program (ISP) this past school year. This experience includes both interactive classroom lessons and an online stock market simulation, Stock Market Challenge, where students manage their own stock portfolio.

Competing against their peers locally and nationally, local students placed very well in the Canada-wide challenge, with two of the national winners coming from B.C.

Offered four times in the 2021-22 school year, the simulation is linked to live data from North American stock markets and is a stimulating way for students to apply the investing principles they learned in the ISP program. “This is the second time I signed up with JABC,” said a grade 10-12 educator from Templeton Secondary in Vancouver. “Our students greatly enjoyed the simulation.”

Thanks to supporters like Nicola Wealth, B.C. high school students get exciting hands-on financial and investment learning experiences through the program. “It is important to support the work JABC is doing to help educate the next generation with financial literacy and build their confidence with an understanding of personal finance,” said Selena Woo, Vice President, Advisory Services at Nicola Wealth. “It is so fulfilling to be able to pay it forward and contribute to the financial education youth are receiving and see how these programs set them up for success in the future.”

Immersive opportunities like ISP and the Stock Market Challenge simulation allow young people to acquire new skills and prepare them for financially independent futures. Learn more at jabc.org/isp

(Left to right) Spring 2022 Invest JA winner (1st in B.C. and 1st nationally) Oscar from St. Andrew‘s School in Victoria; Winter 2022 Invest JA winner (1st in B.C. and 2nd nationally), Team Jacob TBA from Belmont Secondary in Victoria; Fall 2021 Invest JA winner (1st in B.C. and 2nd nationally), KEKW from St. John’s School in Vancouver; Fall 2021 Invest JA winner (1st in B.C), CHJ from West Vancouver Secondary in West Vancouver.