By MATTHEW RALPH - Staff Writer

MILLVILLE -- Christian McCarthy was looking for a new approach to teaching his students about the Great Depression when he signed them up for a statewide stock market competition earlier this year.

He figured the hands-on experience analyzing companies and stock options would help students better understand what went so dreadfully wrong with the economy in the 1929.

He didn't bank on a team from his class finishing first in the Cumberland, Salem and Atlantic county region and 12th in the state.

"I figured it would just be a good tool for them to learn more about the economy and investing in it," said McCarthy, a U.S. History teacher at Millville Senior High School.

The team, which named themselves The Daytraders, consisted of 17-year-old Bruce Querns, 17-year-old Kenneth Hicks, 16-year-old Jeremy Table and 16-year-old Taquella Johnson.

The team could choose only five stocks.

"We based a lot of what we did on the teams that were in it last year and what stocks they did well with," said Johnson, who was the lone veteran on the team competing her second year in a row. "I enjoy picking the stocks and seeing what place we are in day after day."

The Daytraders chose Disney, Dell, Pepsi, Midway Games and Yahoo for their stocks.

Hicks said he eyed up Pepsi stock because of NBA Rookie phenom LeBron James' contract with the company. Other stocks were chosen based on what products were coming out during the 2-month period the contest ran.

Querns said he knew basically nothing about stocks before they played the game.

"I learned how to invest my money when I get older," he said.

McCarthy said he was bombarded daily by students wanting to know about their stocks and how they were fairing. An Internet Web site students checked daily kept them up to date.

"I'd see kids in the hallway and they would all be talking about the game and asking me how they were doing," McCarthy said. "I'd definitely say the interest in the Great Depression and history and the local economy has been heightened."

Students weren't the only ones getting into the fun.

Algebra teacher Lorraine Santandrea gave her math students a run for their money with a team she formed with co-workers Jane Ponzetti and Danielle Coulombe. They finished a close second behind The Daytraders out of teams in the Tri-County area.

"For an extra credit math project, the kids really learned a lot about what was going on in the world," she said. "We would talk about a lot of things that were happening because they had an impact on why stocks were either rising or falling."

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