Trading Kids Program teaches kids about day trading

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A group of local sixth graders traded more than bubble gum cards last Friday, as they were treated to a brief education and some real-time experience in the world of stock trading.

The Lescon Public School students were taught the basics of day trading at Swift Trade before being invited to buy and sell some simulated stocks themselves. While the fast-paced and complex stock world was a definite challenge for the youngsters, the work fit well within their current curriculum.

Lescon Public School teacher Joe Jarrett said the students relished the opportunity to break from their usual routine and learn a bit about the practical applications of math.

"Part of what we're trying to emphasize is real-world mathematics and how what they learn in school can apply to their lives outside school," he said. "We're working on ratios and fractions in class and talking about appreciation and depreciation, so this was a good chance for them to get outside the classroom and see how what they're learning will help them later on."

Jarrett added that the work was more difficult than the students were accustomed to doing, but noted they adapted quickly, particularly when given the opportunity to try out their own skills on the computers set up for them.

"I'm not a stock trader, and it can be fairly complicated, but the people at Swift Trade simplified it a bit for the students," he said. "The kids who were good at video games picked it up really quickly."

Friday marked the second joint venture between Swift Trade and Lescon P.S. The two offered a similar one-day trading experience for students last school year, but this year the project expanded somewhat.

"Last year, the students just went in for one day, and they really enjoyed that," Jarrett said. "This year we have students in that class in groups of four and they'll be able to track their stocks until June, with prizes at the end for the kids whose stocks did the best."

Swift Trade manager Andrew Cartwright said the initiative, dubbed the Trading Kids Program, not only helped students realize the practical applications of their in-class lessons, but also taught the kids new ways of looking at corporations.

"A lot of kids don't differentiate between products and companies," he said. "If you say that Crocs (shoes) are very popular, they just think 'I should get some Crocs.' This gives them a better idea as to how some companies work."

He said the participants got wrapped up in the rapid-fire environment of trading stocks, with the real-time simulation providing the most excitement.

"It was a real game-like atmosphere where some kids made money and some lost," he said. "When they were up on a trade, you'd hear them yelling at a stock to 'Go go go!' just like you'd hear on the floor."

The students will return to the Swift Trade offices in June to see how their year-long portfolios played out, and Jarrett said he hoped to give future sixth graders at Lescon the same opportunity.

"If Swift Trade was agreeable to it, we'd love to do it again next year," he said. "The kids really learned a lot."