''InvestWrite'' Competition Honors Students' Success at Applying Classroom Knowledge to the Real World.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- The Foundation for Investor Education, a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. dedicated to raising the level of investor education across the nation, today announced the top three winners of its third bi-annual "InvestWrite" stock market student essay competition. The three winning students from grades four through 12, chosen from almost 1,000 classrooms from across the country, are from schools in Dallas, Texas, New Milford, New Jersey New Milford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 16,400. New Milford was incorporated as a borough on March 11, 1922, from what remained of Palisades Township[3] and San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation). San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. . In all, 30 students were cited for the investment insight, business understanding and quality of expression present in the essays that they developed in response to different topics that were provided for students in the elementary, middle and high school levels. A record number of students and teachers participated in this semester's InvestWrite competition with more than 7,900 entries - more than double the number of essays submitted than the fall 2005 competition. The Foundation for Investor Education's "InvestWrite" competition is an innovative extension of its award-winning Stock Market Game(TM) (SMG SMG - Screen Management Guidelines. A VMS package of run-time library routines providing windows on DEC VT100 terminals. ) program. In collaboration with teachers from across the country, the Foundation uses the "InvestWrite" competition to bridge classroom learning in subjects such as mathematics, social studies, economics, and finance with the practical, real-world skills required for successful investing and saving. The student essays are also judged on their understanding of the proposed subject matter, their thinking and analytical skills brought to bear on the topic, and the quality and insight of their written work. The three top winners were: --Grades 4-5 Division: Kassidy Windham, Old Settlers School, Flower Mound, Texas Flower Mound is a city in Denton County, Texas (USA). As of the 2000 census, the city population was 50,702, although the U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate was 63,526.[1] The name comes from a large mound located in the southern portion of the city. . The division topic challenged students to detail the manner in which they could save $1,500 in order to afford a senior class trip to Washington, D.C. Kassidy detailed a blend of stock-market investing--a favorite being Pixar (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : PIXR)--and mutual fund investing drawn from monies made from both odd jobs and, upon turning 16, full-time employment at a family mortgage business. Not only did Kassidy understand concepts such as portfolio diversification Portfolio diversification Investing in different asset classes and in securities of many issuers in an attempt to reduce overall investment risk and to avoid damaging a portfolio's performance by the poor performance of a single security, industry, (or country). and long-term investing, her essay was written with a dose of enthusiasm and good humor. --Grades 6-8 Division: Kinjal Desai, David E. Owens Middle School, New Milford, N.J. The topic for middle school students was a quasi-journalistic assignment challenging students to create a news-making event for a fictional company followed by a detailed analysis of the event's impact on the company's stock, all rendered in a business news story format. In an informed and highly readable fashion, Kinjal posited a scenario in which Apple Computers, Inc. launched a follow-on iPod product in the guise of mini video iPod. In a proposed Wall Street Journal article, he covered the fallout from a flawed product launch, due to distorted imaging, that snowballed from an initially dismissive posture by Apple to a full-blown product recall with a devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. stock price impact. Kinjal's essay exhibited a sophisticated grasp of corporate crisis management and investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. - in addition to an understanding of Wall Street. --Grades 9-12 Division: Benjamin Cockrill, Business Careers High School, San Antonio, Texas. The high school level essay assignment called for students to choose and characterize a current domestic or international trend and the short- and long-term impact on an industry, a related company and its owners, employees and shareholders. In an industry close to the heart of any Texan-oil, Benjamin dissected the manner in which escalating oil prices create ripple effects across companies and consumer groups, in often unanticipated ways. In an informed and sophisticated manner, with supporting footnotes from academic studies, Benjamin exhibited a high degree of insight regarding the connectivity of events and the negative and positive impact therein. "Our 'InvestWrite' competition continues to grow in participation and impact," said Donna C. Peterman Pe´ter`man n. 1. A fisherman; - so called after the apostle Peter. , chairman of the Foundation's board of directors and senior vice president of PNC Financial Services PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC) is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of $92.0 billion. PNC operations include a regional banking franchise operating primarily in eight states and the District of Columbia, specialized financial businesses serving Group. "Teachers across the country have acclaimed this program as an innovative real world teaching tool that enhances their students' analytical and writing skills. On another front, we're delighted with the ever-increasing level of sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. and the high quality of expression that is exhibited in all of the essays. In a way, there are no winners or losers with InvestWrite...it's a win/win for everyone." Each of the top-three student winners will receive a variety of prizes, including a laptop computer, a trip to either Disney World or New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. with their parents, and a $1,000 savings bond Savings bond A government bond issued in face value denominations from $50 to $10,000, with local and state tax-free interest and semiannually adjusted interest rates. savings bond A nonmarketable security issued by the U.S. . Second- and third-place winners also receive laptops and other prizes, while seven additional finalists in each category receive $100 gift cards. First-round judging of the essay competition was handled by participating teachers from across the country. Independent, volunteer judges drawn from industry, education and local communities then chose the winners from among more than 7,900 essays submitted by the teachers. Background Information "InvestWrite" "InvestWrite" is an innovative national writing competition, produced by The Stock Market Game(TM) program, which adds a critical thinking component to help reinforce concepts learned in the classroom, building a bridge between classroom learning and potential real-world investment decisions. Students are provided a topic and an investment scenario, which requires them to assess, research, and then formulate possible solutions based on their own findings, logic, and ideas. The Stock Market Game(TM) Program Since 1977, The Stock Market Game(TM) program has given educators a way to improve the learning experience in thousands of classrooms. Teachers have successfully used The Stock Market Game Program to enliven en·liv·en tr.v. en·liv·ened, en·liv·en·ing, en·liv·ens To make lively or spirited; animate. en·liv  en·er n. core academic subjects - including math, social studies, and language arts-and research has shown there's no better way to teach the importance of saving and investing. More information on The Stock Market Game Program can be found at http://www.sia.com/smgprogram/. Foundation for Investor Education The Stock Market Game Program(TM) would not be possible without the efforts of The Foundation For Investor Education, a charitable, educational not-for-profit (501-c-3) organization dedicated to advocating investor education in the United States Education in the United States is provided mainly by government, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. School attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at the elementary and high school levels (often known outside the United States as the . The foundation administers two programs: The Stock Market Game Program(TM) (www.stockmarketgame.org) and the Investor Education Program (www.siainvestor.org), which offers the award-winning educational Web site, Path To Investing - Leading the way to financial knowledge(R) Securities Industry Association The Securities Industry Association, established in 1972 through the merger of the Association of Stock Exchange Firms and the Investment Banker's Association, brings together the shared interests of nearly 600 securities firms to accomplish common goals. SIA member-firms (including investment banks, broker-dealers, and mutual fund companies) are active in all U.S. and foreign markets and in all phases of corporate and public finance. More information about SIA can be found at http://www.sia.com/. |
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