A seventh-grade class at Von Tobel Middle School in Las Vegas took first place in this semester's 2000 Nevada Stock Market Game, turning $100,000 in hypothetical start-up money into $172,419 in just 10 weeks.

The students participated in the game under the direction of their teacher, Mary Jo Lopez. In addition to the team that captured the first-place statewide honors, teams from Lopez's classes took second, third, and fourth-place statewide honors. In all, 10 of her teams made the top 25.

More than 8,000 students in classrooms throughout Nevada participated in this spring's contest, in which high school, middle school, and elementary school students compete against each other. Teams of students invest hypothetical dollars in the game, which is designed to teach students about economics, finances, and math.

At 10:30 a.m. Wednesday (May 3) Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller will visit Von Tobel to congratulate students and present them with $50 per winning team, T-shirts, and plaques. The $50 awards are given to each classroom for each winning team. Because it had four winning teams, Lopez's classroom will receive $200. The same awards will be given to the top five finishers in each category statewide.

Each team had 10 weeks to buy and sell its hypothetical stocks in an attempt to maximize its portfolio. Teams were charged commissions on all transactions. Teams had the ability to use margin, but were charged interest if they engaged in that leveraging activity.

The top five winners in the elementary school division were:

-- First Place. A team from Richard Waller's class at Hidden Valley in Reno, $134,691.

-- Second Place. A team from Carol Livingston's class at J.L. Bowler in Mesquite, $127,458.

-- Third Place. A team from Quentin Shoulders' class at Hidden Valley, $125,645.

-- Fourth Place. A team from Waller's class, $124,114.

-- Fifth Place. A team from Tom Wortman's class at C.H. Decker in Las Vegas, $120,601.

The top five middle school division winners were:

-- First Place. The statewide top-honors team from Lopez's classroom, $172,419.

-- Second Place. A team from Lopez's classroom, $171,814.

-- Third Place. A team from Lopez's classroom, $158,248.

-- Fourth Place. A team from Lopez's classroom, $153,864.

-- Fifth Place. A team from Kim Hardgrove's class at Brinley Middle School in North Las Vegas, $153,688.

The top five high school division winners were:

-- First Place. A team from Jeanne Joyce's classroom at Spring Creek in Spring Creek, near Elko, $146,398.

-- Second Place. A team from Debbie Miller's classroom at Green Valley in Henderson, $132,962.

-- Third Place. A team from Jim Manuel's classroom at Horizon North in Las Vegas, $129,128.

-- Fourth Place. A team from Lisa Diaz's classroom at the Southern Nevada Vocational Technical Center in Henderson, $126,809.

-- Fifth Place. A team from Joyce's classroom, $121,481.

The Nevada Council on Economic Education provides the stock market game for students in grades five through 12. It is administered by the Barbara Schick Center for Economic Education at UNLV and sponsored by the secretary of state's office. Heller's office provides funding for team fees from fines it collects from securities fraud violators.

For additional information, call John Mundy, program coordinator at the Barbara Schick Center for Economic Education at UNLV, at (702) 895-3904 or E-mail him at jmundy@ccmail.nevada.edu.