Sanford Middle School students recently demonstrated their financial savvy in a statewide stock market competition, with an impressive five students placing in the top 10 across the entire state.
The six-week competition, which began in early 2025, gave students $100,000 in virtual money to invest in the stock market. The challenge? Do what investors everywhere try to accomplish: buy low and sell high.
Matthew Bourassa claimed the first-place position in the competition, winning $100 and a box of prizes. His fellow Sanford Middle School students followed close behind, with Jacob Hill taking second place ($75 and prizes), Izzy Burns securing third, Jarezz Jackson in fourth, and Madi Dulle rounding out the school's showing at sixth.
"I was definitely pretty excited. I was really happy because I was hoping I would win," Matthew said about his first-place finish. "I wasn't expecting to win at all. I was in like 40th place, I think, the day before."
What changed his fortunes? A volatile market day and some timely advice from SMS Jobs For Maine Graduates (JMG) teacher Tara Houle.
"The stock market, everything just went crazy, and Miss Houlel told us all to sell," Matthew explained. "So I sold, and I woke up the next morning, checked my ranking... I was in first."
The competition tracks two different rankings - one for all schools in the state and another for all individual participants. Matthew achieved first place in the overall individual rankings, an impressive feat considering the competition included students from colleges and high schools as well.
Fellow eighth-grader Izzy also participated in the competition, sharing that the experience wasn't always predictable. "Honestly, I thought I was going to go down in rank because I was buying a lot of things that were going down," Izzy said.
The students joined the competition as part of their financial literacy education, where they've been learning about savings, checking, investing, debit, credit, and other financial concepts before participating in the stock market game.
According to the students, Sanford Middle School joined the competition shortly after the presidential election, which they believed gave them certain advantages in their investment strategies.
When asked about the most enjoyable part of the competition, Matthew didn't hesitate: "Definitely the day I placed first." Izzy added that she enjoyed "taking the chances" involved in stock market investing.
Both students emphasized that the biggest lesson they learned was to "trust your gut" and follow the classic investment advice: "buy low and sell high."