Fourteen-year-old Michael Vescio, an eighth grader at William James Middle School, made more than $15,000 in investments recently over a 10-week period.
Well, technically, it’s “pretend” money, but that accomplishment netted him a District winner award for the Georgia Council on Economic Education’s Stock Market Game for Bulloch County Schools. Though Vescio didn’t place at the state level, he gained valuable knowledge that he says gave him a better understanding of investing in the stock market and economics in general.
Vescio learned all about the stock market under Dr. Emerson Chester’s tutelage. Dr. Chester has taught the eighth-grade Quest program at William James for 14 years.
Quest is a program designed to serve Bulloch County’s gifted students.
Dr. Chester’s students participate in the Stock Market Game each year and are required to do extensive study in preparation for the school year.
     “Dr. Chester introduced our class to the stock market with a summer project,” said Vescio of his summer 2014 homework assignments. “He assigned certain companies that we had to observe. Opening and closing numbers were recorded and graphed in order to analyze their performance during a specified time period.”
    Vescio said it was his first experience with stocks, but he certainly excelled with his newly-gained knowledge.
    “When we returned to school in fall 2014,” Vescio said, “we were given pretend money to invest in any company of our choice.”
    Vescio had several thought-processes going on with his company selections, basing his decisions on research, interests and, maybe, a sweet tooth.
    “I chose to invest in Asustek, Sony and Hershey. I am very interested in technology and I believe that growth will be consistent in the future for the tech companies.
    “Also, I invested in Hershey because it was around Halloween. Therefore, I knew that because of increased sales at this time, their stock would increase exponentially.”
    Dr. Chester explained that the students were given $100,000 of pretend money to spend at the beginning of the study. In order to be eligible for the state-wide competition, students have to have three stocks that they have held for three weeks to be a qualifier. They can then sell or buy as they wish following those three weeks.
    Vescio’s grand total at the end of the 10-week period of participation was $116,293.
    In addition to learning about buying and selling stocks, Vescio said he values the independent study offered through the Quest class and believes he’s learned other areas of study that he would not have studied as in-depth elsewhere.
    Vescio’s interests go beyond the stock market. “I like playing sports, like football and soccer, playing video games, hanging out with my friends and learning about things from God to physics. My favorite subject is math, because I like working with numbers.”
    The gifted student recently became a REACH Scholar and participates in a mentoring program. He also makes time for church activities. “I meet with my pastor, Scott Moore of Believers Church, twice a month. We discuss goal-setting and most importantly, how to achieve these goals with the help of my faith and relationship with God, family and friends.”
Vescio plans to attend college and become a computer hardware engineer. He is the son of Michael and Carrie Vescio and has one sister and two brothers.