Sanford Middle School had another strong showing in this year's statewide SIFMA Stock Market Game, with three students finishing in the top 11 in Maine. Billy Chaplain led the way with a third-place finish, while Owen Jutras came in sixth and Laila Matthews finished 11th.
The competition gave students $100,000 in virtual money to invest across a real-time simulated stock market. This isn’t the first time Sanford Middle School students have excelled in the Stock Market Game. Last year, five SMS students placed in the top 10.
For Billy, the path to the podium wasn't a straight line. He found himself near the top of the leaderboard early, reaching first place about five weeks into the competition, only to slip back down.
But the decisive moment came near the end. "I saw that the website Booking.com went down a lot, so I bought it, and it jumped straight back up, giving me $50,000," he said.
That single move was a textbook example of the strategy at the heart of the competition. When asked if buying low was intentional, Billy didn't hesitate: "Buying low, selling high." It's a simple principle, but one that takes discipline to act on in real time.
To stay competitive, Billy checked his portfolio daily, dedicating around 30 minutes each day to monitoring how stocks were rising and falling. He credits Sanford Middle School JMG Specialist Tara Houle with giving him the foundation he needed to make informed decisions. "She did a rundown on the basics and then had us do a simulation to see how good we would do," Billy said. "And I did pretty well on it."
Houle said it was clear early on that Billy was going above and beyond. "After our lesson on how to read the stock charts, Billy really dove in," she said. "He wasn't afraid to take risks on lesser known stocks if he thought the charts and news about the stock looked good. No doubt his commitment to researching companies and checking his investments daily were a big part of his success."
For Billy, the most rewarding part of the experience wasn't just the ranking. It was what he learned along the way. "Learning how the stocks actually work, I found that interesting," he said. Before the competition, he had only a vague sense of what stocks were, describing them as "just a way to invest your money."
Now, he's walking away with a much sharper picture of financial literacy, and a clear philosophy for the future: "Do what's smartest with your money."