California has the second-highest average home price in the country at a whopping $737,677. The struggle for new homeowners has significantly increased, especially in the Oak Park community. As a response to this economic development and many others, Oak Park High School students have begun to take control of their finances early on in life.

The OPHS Stock Investment Club was created to teach and inspire young people to use their money wisely, mainly since personal finance classes at OPHS are not mandatory for students to complete. This club works to teach students about stocks in a fun and interactive way, all with the hope of financial security in the future.

“Once I learned about finance from multiple classes, I wanted to share that knowledge with other students, especially because a lot of people use their money unwisely, and I hope to help with that,” sophomore and club president Arthav Atal said. 

As part of their meetings, Stock Investment Club utilizes an online platform, Investopedia, that allows students to invest faux money, giving students a simulation of real-life investment. 

“We start off the club by presenting slides and teaching people different things about investing and showing them how to work with the stock market,” Atal said. “Then, we do something called Stock Of The Week, which is where everyone in the club names a stock they liked that week and why. Lastly, we put stocks that we like into an Investopedia account and we try to increase our money, and the winner at the end wins a cash prize.”

Stock and Investment Club members encourage interested students to join them in gaining crucial life skills in room E-05 every even Wednesday. 

“My favorite part is when we go around and record our video, and we see what each person invested on this week,” sophomore and vice president Aarush Masipeddi said. “It’s amazing to see them [club members] grow with our tips that we give them.”