By David Karas | Correspondent

Pack lunch. Make sure your homework is completed. Check the NASDAQ before the markets open for the day.

The daily routine of some students in St. Dominic School, Brick, took on some new elements as they students spent the past several months filling out their new roles as day traders on the stock exchange.

Eighth grade students in social studies and religion teacher Mara Tiernan’s class spent the fall participating in the New Jersey Stock Market Game, a free program that allows students to engage in a virtual and educational stock experience, to her classroom. Tiernan has involved students in the program for more than a decade, and with great success.

A team of students won first place in the Middle School Southern Division of the fall session, with students Megan Barnes, Lindsey DeLuca, Sydney Stoughton and Taryn Turnbach diligently working to research companies to invest $100,000 in their own portfolio. The cohort yielded a nine-percent growth during the 10-week session, which included 100 teams from throughout the region.

“During the session, there is rarely a day that we do not have an enthusiastic conversation about the market's trends, stocks increasing and decreasing in value, and portfolio equity,” said Tiernan. “The students truly enjoy competing against each other and realizing that decisions they make can affect their portfolio and in turn, their ranking.”

She also spoke about the success her teams have had in the competition.

“We have been very fortunate over the years to have won so many times,” she shared. “It truly is a testament to allowing students to be engaged in real-world decision-making skills through authentic learning opportunities.”

As a lead-in to the competition, she teaches her students an introduction to the game, with basic information about supply and demand, buying and selling shares, corporations, stocks, bonds, credit and other related topics.

Once registered, the students can begin buying and selling through the game’s website, which includes lesson plans, statistical information and research, as well as current stock price listings. Tiernan’s students break up into groups and work together to try to achieve the most successful portfolio of holdings, she explained.

Stoughton, the team leader of the winning group, spoke about the work they put into the game.

“Our team researched several stocks that we thought would perform well, (and) we checked them every week and made some minor adjustments,” she said. “Overall, we paid attention to market trends and tried to buy low and sell high.”

The winning team will be recognized in June during an awards ceremony in The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Galloway.