Eighth-grader Victoria Bills is talking about money with her classmates. She is worried that a company's stock   price could fall. It may be an unusual topic of conversation for a 13-year-old. But at Bills' school in Chicago, US, you hear it all the time. The Chicago school's 420 students learn about economic . They also get a chance to make money. Each 1stgrade and 5thgrade, students learn the basics of economics and investing . Then in 6thgrade, they put what they've learned to work. Students join a junior group that manages the $20,000. The group, made up of 12 to 14 students, decides which stocks to buy. After graduating, students pass on $20,000 to the next 1stgrade class. They keep half of the rest of the money; the other half goes toward improving the school. They can choose to put their money in a college-savings program or take the cash. In 2007, Bills suggested that her class buy the stock of the Apple computer company. This was just before the iPhone came out. "We bought stock just at the right time," she says. The kids bought Google stock as it reached $400 a share. It is now worth over $500. "It was a good buy," says Myles Gate, 13. He hopes to be a banker one day. The school's two graduating classes of 2005 and 2006 have each earned about $10,000 in profits . Who manages the $20,000 in the class?
The teachers. The school. The students. The parents.