School Board Honors West Mercer Student's Top-5 finish in National Investwrite Competition

The Mercer Island School Board offered its personal congratulations to West Mercer Elementary School student Owen Bernstein on Thursday for a 5th place award in the nationally-competitive The Stock Market Game in the InvestWrite essay competition.

Students from Mark Headlee’s 5th grade class at West Mercer Elementary participated in the National Investwrite essay competition, a contest held in conjunction with the annual Stock Market Game, a trademark of the Foundation for Investor Education.

Owen joined West Mercer teacher Headlee at the Annual Stock Market Game Awards Ceremony luncheon in Renton at the Seattle branch of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank on May 31. The luncheon recognizes state Stock Market Game winners as well as any National Investwrite winners.

Ten-year-old Owen was awarded 5th place for his essay on how he convinced the family cookie jar to release his savings so he could invest it in the stock market and achieve his investment goal — a black sports car with yellow trim.

According to Mark Headlee, “This is the second year I have had my class take part in this online simulation. They must research and decide what stocks they wish to purchase, in real time with real stock prices. I am very proud of Owen for his excellent achievement in the writing competition.”

School District Superintendent Gary Plano jokingly asked for tips on investing in actual stocks.

"I didn't actually do that well," Owen said. "We did learn a lot, so by the end we knew how to predict what stocks were best to by anually."

One West Mercer team finished 44th out of a total of 283 teams statewide. Members are: Josh Chansky, Graham Cartwright, Alex Patel, Riley Milburn, and Emerson Fruehling. Another team finished 74th. Members: Jasper Geer, Vincent Kwan, Michael Deal, Derek Wang, and Ethan Marot.

Since 1977, more than 10 million students have participated in The Stock Market Game™ program, and more classrooms sign on every year. Today the program is available in all 50 states and worldwide. Students who participate in the program gain confidence and build self-esteem. They have fun — and learn more effectively as they see how their classroom lessons apply to the real world.