Bryan Sims brought skateboarders, marching band members and football players together to start a stock-trading club at his Corvallis high school two years ago. Few of them followed stocks or had visited Etrade, an online trading site. But by June, when Bryan graduated from Crescent Valley High, the investment club had almost 40 student members and a stock portfolio that peaked at $25,000 in value.

Bryan will study entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Oregon this fall. The 18-year-old started his club with the help of a broker from Salomon Smith Barney. Bryan says young people have tremendous opportunities to build wealth through the stock market but aren't taught about the complexities of investing.

"In high school, there really is nothing available to teenagers to learn about money and investing." Bryan Sims.

Some of Oregon's youngest investors, such as Bryan, are self-taught. Others rely on guidance from relatives to decide where to place their money.

Regardless of how they get started many beginning investors say they aren't put off by the stock market's volatility in recent months. Rather, they see an opportunity to acquire stocks at discount prices and start investment habits that will pay off over time.

"This is just a bump in the road for young people," says Donna Jones, chairwoman of the youth investing committee for the National Association of Investors Corp.

Two years ago, Ashley Morganstem of Portland started managing a portfolio of her own investments- a mixture of stocks, bonds and mutual funds, which are invested across a range of stocks. With help from her father, David, a Portland financial planner, she monitors the stocks' performance nearly every day. The two decide when to reinvest, sell stocks or modify her portfolio.

Ashley, who will be a senior at Oregon Episcopal School this fall, says the stock market's erratic ride this summer has been troublesome but hasn't scared her away. At 17, she sees a long horizon of growth for her investments.

"I'm not looking to take my money out anytime soon," Ashley says.

Do first-time investors need thousands of dollars to enter the market? No, say Dustin Mote, a 17-year-old graduate of Crescent Valley High.

Dustin works as an assistant manager at an Arby's restaurant in Corvallis. He joined Bryan's club with an investment of about $250 and estimates that he contributed $3,000 of money he earned over two years.

Dustin has seen mixed results during his short career as an investor. He lost about $2100 through the high school investment club.

On his own, in three separate transactions, Dustin also bought 1,100 shares of stock in Crown Castle International Corp., which builds rooftop towers for wireless phones and other devices.

Dustin bought shares of Crown Castle earlier this year at a bargain $5 a share. According to the company's Web site, the 52-week high was $12.45 per share. The stock is now valued at about $2 a share, so Dustin has lost money on his investment.

Like Ashley, Dustin says he's not discouraged. He continues to research companies to invest in and watches financial news on TV to keep up with the markets.

"I have 45 years for these stocks to go up," Dustin says. "I know it can't keep going down forever, and I have time to wait."

Bryan says young people who want to start investing or even start an investment club should start by approaching their parents. Adults who might be reluctant to spend money on items that will depreciate might be more open to helping their children invest money, Bryan says.

In a newly published article that Bryan contributed to "The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens" (Fireside, $14, 243 pages), he also suggests that teens approach professional brokers who might be willing to help them set up investment clubs.

Like Dustin, Bryan has also learned some valuable lessons through the stock he's picked. The $1,000 he had invested in Enron is now worth $11, he says: ‘it happens there's nothing you can do to predict it."