They didn't expect to win.
When eight students from Centennial High School waltzed into the Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge, wearing flannels shirts and caps turned backwards in stark contrast to the suits of their competitors — kids from 60 high schools across Colorado, who'd been studying finance and preparing all semester for the competition — they didn't know what to expect.
They'd formed a team on Monday, practiced for two days, and spent most of the trip to Denver talking about what they were going to have for lunch.
The team was a ragtag bunch of teenagers who’d left the big, comprehensive high schools behind for a shot at something they never thought they’d attain: graduation. So they hardly expected to succeed at the kind of traditional extracurricular activity that mainstream kids thrive at.
"My friend from Fossil Ridge High School was there in his suit, and he was like 'We are gonna destroy you," Centennial student Christian Garcia remembered.
But then the competition started.
Senior Byron Gerber took charge, with Garcia acting as his main advisor. Gerber had played around with virtual stocks before as a hobby, but never anything more than that. And this was totally different than a few lackadaisical trades on a sterile white screen.
Intentionally designed to be a high pressure environment, the room was small and crowded. Loud music blared over the speakers, mixing with the shouting of the traders on the floor into a cacophonous din. Each minute counted as an entire day of trading.
At the end of the first half, Centennial was low on the scoreboard. But they were starting to get comfortable. Gerber assigned each person specific stocks to watch. Their strategy was simple: buy low, sell high.
Centennial teacher Cassidy Montoya watched from the balcony as her students made fast and furious trades on the floor below. And then suddenly, she and Gerber had a realization at exactly the same moment.
"I looked up and we were in first place," Gerber said. "And I was like GUYS!"
The team stayed in first until the last moments of the competition, sliding into second place just before the final closing bell.
Montoya watched as her usually calm, reserved kids started jumping up and down, dancing and screaming with delight.
"The best part was watching teenagers who play it cool, because sometimes they're misjudged, forget themselves and let their joy blossom all the way," Montoya said. "We don't get to see that often outside the school walls."
For a moment, nothing mattered except that they’d won. No one could judge them on anything except victory. Everyone rode the high throughout the weekend.
"We went in much less qualified and ready, and came out victorious," Gerber said. "We were the team that was willing to take risks.”
Now, they’re back in economics class with fresh energy. The team plans to return the competition again in the spring, but this time with a very specific goal in mind.
They’ve learned exactly what they’re capable of.