Rockford — Looking for a financial adviser? There are a few students at Valley View Elementary who might be able to help you out.
Fifth-graders in Caleb Westveer’s class earned Valley View a top spot in the state among elementary schools for the spring 2026 season of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Stock Market Game competition.
The SIFMA Stock Market Game is an online simulation that challenges students to make as much as they can with a $100,000 mock investment. Participants buy and sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds, tracking their investments with real-time stock market data. Whoever ends the competition with the best portfolio wins.
‘I feel more prepared for investing later on, instead of having to guess at this.’
— fifth-grader Casey Clements
In addition to placing first collectively, several of Westveer’s students saw individual success in the competition. Eric Gunderson placed first in the state in the elementary division, while his classmates Casey Clements and Jack Wasson placed fifth and eighth, respectively.
What was the secret to the students’ success?
“My tip is to pay attention to what’s happening,” Eric said, noting that some savvy last-minute investment decisions helped push him into the lead.
“The day before spring break, I invested in Hershey’s because I knew Easter was coming,” he said. “And airlines. Like, I invested in Delta and American Airlines, because of spring break.”
Eric said it’s important to not rush to cut your losses when a stock goes down, because you only lose money if you sell that stock for less than you initially paid. If you ride it out, the stock might shoot back up and you could find yourself with a nice profit.
Casey and Jack agreed.
“If your stocks are going down a bunch, don’t panic; just wait some,” said Jack.
“If I would have panicked, I would have taken one of the last places at the elementary level,” Casey said.
Casey said one of his main strategies was to follow the market adage that time, not timing, is what counts, and that investors should take the long view.
“I had a lot of stuff that was down originally, but then it shot up,” Casey said. “If you trust in a company a lot, you should buy some of that stock. And once it goes down, you don’t sell it.”
Building to Future Financial Literacy
Prior to their involvement in the game, the fifth-graders had no real interest in investing. But now that they know how the system works, they’re seriously thinking about making it a career focus.
All three students said they had a blast learning the ins and outs of investing.
“It was a really cool experience,” Casey said. “It was one of our first school lessons that taught us about real-world things, and I feel more prepared for investing later on, instead of having to guess at this.”
Westveer said the stock market game is part of a district-wide effort to start early with developing financial literacy among students.
“At a fifth-grade level, if you can introduce a comfort level with investing and stocks — even just knowing what it is and knowing how it works — then it translates into more comfort as they get older, and an ability to take control of their own personal finance.”
He said students always benefit from the experience.
“I think it’s super valuable. It gives kids a good foothold for future financial investing and financial security.”
Plus, “This is a real-world math skill that applies to current events. It’s not just math, it’s staying informed with what’s happening in the world and being able to make moves that financially benefit you from it.”
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