Financial Literacy Happenings

#1 Titan Challenge

12 Waynflete students recently competed in the TITAN Challenge, a business simulation competition developed by Junior Achievement.  This is the 3rd year that Waynflete has participated.  The 12 students were organized into four teams and each team had a Junior Achievement volunteer at their side to assist them in the video game based competition.  Over 300 students participated (over 100 teams) in the event which was held at 7 locations around Maine.  The sites were connected by video conference, and the students heard from speakers from fields like education, health care, and business. Waynflete’s Titans did an excellent job managing the simulation and all teams had high moments during the day, winning some rounds along the way.  Here is how our teams finished:

FLYERS #1: Nick Jenkins, Andrew Clark, Bodhi Small 57th place

FLYERS #2: Reilly Musgrave, Christian Rowe, Stephen Epstein 34th place

FLYERS #3: Jacob Greene, Nick Wagg, Alex Lambert 36th place

FLYERS #4: Abdi Dahir, Sahal Hourdeh, Sam Frederick 32nd place

 Who Said That?

“You can’t afford to repeat mistakes in business.  The margin of error is so small.  The simulation really illustrates that.”  Sahal Hourdeh

“The simulation demonstrates the importance of risk-taking, regardless of the economic conditions.”  Abdi Dahir

“What?!  How did that work?”  Bodhi Small commenting about every round that his team did not lose money.

#2  Stock Market Game – Capitol Hill Challenge

This program is a special extension of the regular Stock Market Game in which Waynflete students have participated for several years through 6th grade math and the Personal Finance elective.  Sponsored by SIFMA, this edition of the SMG connects our team with one of our elected representatives.  This is a national competition, and the top 10 finishers get an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. in June.  The trip would focus on visiting government institutions related to investing, and, with any luck, a visit to Susan Collins’ office on Capitol Hill.  This is the first time that Waynflete is participating in the Capitol Hill Challenge.  Our team is comprised of three seniors whose team had the best finish of all Waynflete teams during the fall session of the Stock Market Game in Maine.  Wish them luck and don’t be afraid to ask them for some stock tips.  Waynflete’s traders:  Erica Hirschhorn * Ellen Langford * AJ Yarn

#3 LifeSmarts

For the third year in a row Waynflete will be competing in the Maine final of LifeSmarts.  The competition is March 13 at UNUM and visitors are welcome.  Anyone interested in going should contact me at as UNUM has requested visitors register in advance.

The winner of the Maine finals will head to the national competition April 17-20, in Seattle.  Waynflete won the Maine LifeSmart competition in 2013 and 2014, and represented Maine at Nationals in Atlanta (2013), and Orlando (2014).  In 2014 Waynflete finished 10th at Nationals out of 35 states, just missing the final playoff spot by about 1/2 of a question.

This year’s team includes Sam Frederick ’15, who was on last year’s team, Emily Tabb ’17, Stephen Epstein ’17, Christian Rowe ’16, and Alex Lambert ’17.  The photo is of the 2014 team with Mason Saltz ’14, Chloe Williams ’16, Sally Li ’14, Cody Tiparos ’15, and Sam Frederick ’15.