Competition Details

How We Built This

Building a statewide investing competition from the ground up.

The NJ Statewide High School Stock Market Game was created by the Wayne Valley Investment Club to expand hands-on investing education beyond one school. After seeing strong engagement locally, we designed a simple, scalable model that any New Jersey high school could join.

How the program was developed:

• Identified demand for practical investing experience in high schools
• Designed a 4-week, team-based competition format
• Built a fully online registration and communication system
• Secured faculty supervision and advisor oversight

Platform: The competition runs on HowTheMarketWorks, an established educational stock market simulation platform that provides real-time data and automatic portfolio tracking. All trading is virtual.

The 2026 season is the inaugural statewide launch, built to be repeatable and expandable in future years.

Identified demand

Identified demand

Team-based format

Team-based format

Online platform

Online platform

Faculty oversight

Faculty oversight

Platform: HowTheMarketWorks

The competition runs on HowTheMarketWorks, a trusted educational stock market simulator. It provides real-time data and automatic portfolio tracking for all teams. All investing is virtual, and no personal financial information is required. Teams receive join codes and instructions before the competition start.

Looking Ahead to 2026 and Beyond

The 2026 season launches our inaugural statewide competition, built to be repeatable and expandable for future years. Our goal is to create a robust framework that schools and students across New Jersey can count on.

We look forward to welcoming schools and seeing the program grow. Join us as we build a new statewide tradition in financial literacy and real-world investing education.