Middletown Fifth-Grader Named State's Best In Writing Competition

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown fifth-grader was honored as the state’s winner in a nationwide writing competition in a surprise announcement Friday at Macdonough Elementary School. Lilianna Pek and her teacher, John Ferrero, were honored during a schoolwide morning assembly where she learned she was the Connecticut Elementary School Winner of the SIFMA Foundation’s National InvestWrite Competition.

The InvestWrite competition required students to write an essay describing a dream they hope to achieve. Essays laid out a financial plan to pay for their dream with a pitch to a panel of virtual investors. The students were expected to identify stocks, bonds or mutual funds that could be included in a portfolio to grow their investors’ seed money to fulfill their dream. InvestWrite, an innovative national writing competition, is a program of the SIFMA Foundation offered exclusively to teachers and students participating in The Stock Market Game, according to a news release.

Pek pitched an investment plan for a bakery that saves animals (read her essay at the end of this article). Reflecting on Oprah Winfrey’s inspiring statement, “Whatever our dreams, ideas or projects, we plant a seed, nurture it and then reap the fruits of our labor,” Pek pitched virtual investors a plan to seed her dream of opening a bakery and using the proceeds to fund endangered species protection. Pek’s financial plan was so compelling that it won her first place in the state in the Fall 2019 InvestWrite competition, officials said.

“From P/E ratios and Betas to fixed income and growth stocks, Pek’s broad knowledge of investing enabled this impressive fifth-grader from Macdonough School in Middletown to climb to the top of the competition in the elementary school division and beat out thousands of students competing nationwide,” according to the news release. “InvestWrite is a national essay competition that bridges classroom learning in math, social studies, and language arts with the practical research and knowledge required for saving, investing and long-term planning. The competition serves as a culminating activity for participants in the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game program. Essays are judged by thousands of financial professionals who volunteer their time each year to ensure young people are exposed to the essentials of personal finance early in life.”

To accomplish her dream, Pek developed a long-term financial plan.

“As a 10-year investment plan, I will diversify my money into many different investments,” she wrote. “I will invest in animal- and habitat-friendly stocks. I plan to invest about $50,000 in government bonds, so that I can grow my money and be able to make Bake for a Change a better place to be and to make it a more successful company. I will put about $100,000 into mutual funds. I will put about $50,000 into stocks and will keep my money invested in those stocks even after 10 years, in order to be able to expand my money, and to use as backup.”

Winning InvestWrite essays are chosen through “rigorous judging by thousands of teachers and industry professionals who evaluate students’ understanding of long-term investing, diversification, the global capital markets, and factors that drive investments as well as their expression of investment ideas in essay form,” the news release reads. “Winners receive exciting awards and prizes including laptops, classroom pizza parties, trophies, plaques and banners, and certificates. The first-place national winners in middle school and high school are awarded a three-day all-expense paid trip to New York City, the financial capital of the world, with their teacher and a parent.”

Winning Essay by Lilianna Pek

Bake for a Change

When I first thought about my dream for this project, I thought about my dream to own a bakery, but I also thought about endangered species, like the hawksbill sea turtle. So, I combined both of my dreams to create Bake for a Change, a bakery that donates part of their profits to groups that support endangered species. It would use their money to save endangered animals from going extinct and raise their population instead of just saving them from extinction.

My dream to own Bake for a Change that donates part of its earnings to endangered animals is very important because many animals now are close to extinction due to tree loss, poaching, habitat destruction, climate change, and more. Baking has always played an important role in my life to spend more time together as a family and to use my creativity. Knowing that someone is saving animals just by buying a dozen cupcakes would make my bakery more popular, which means fewer extinct animals. It’s great to know that you’re not only getting good food, but also saving animals. A bakery that saves animals from lowering their population is not only original, but also very unique. I think my idea will make a great impact on the world and will help people realize that the smallest dreams can turn into big change.

I will need not only support to achieve my dream, but also seed money. I will make this by investing in mutual funds, bonds and stocks. I will also need lots of information about different places I can donate the money that I raise. I think it would be great if I found out what animals I would be donating to, so that I can be honest with my customers. They will be able to know which endangered species they donate to, and sometimes even choose which species they help. I would have a website for people to read about Bake for a Change, and to learn more about where we donate, what animals we donate to, and more. I will need 10-15 employees minimum, but I can always use extra help. As a company, we will always treat our customers with the respect we would like to receive and will give them honest information about the places and animals they are donating to. I will need all this, and more, to make Bake for a Change more successful.

As a 10-year investment plan, I will diversify my money into many different investments. I will invest in animal- and habitat-friendly stocks. I plan to invest about $50,000 in government bonds, so that I can grow my money and be able to make Bake for a Change a better place to be and to make it a more successful company. I will put about $100,000 into mutual funds. In order to build or buy my bakery, I will use part of my money I gained from bonds. Paying my employees will partly come from the mutual funds, but also from some of the profit I make. I will put about $50,000 into stocks and will keep my money invested in those stocks even after 10 years, in order to be able to expand my money, and to use as backup.

Doing Investwrite taught me a lot about investing, and lots of investing-related vocabulary, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. A stock is a share of a company. When you buy a stock, you are really just buying a little part of a company. You invest your money into a stock, and if it does well, you gain money, while if the stock does bad, you lose money. A bond is when you loan money to the government or a company. They will give you a certain date.

If you pull your money too soon before that date, you’ll receive less. The longer and closer to that date you have your money invested, you will gain money. A mutual fund is when professionals invest your money for you in various stocks instead of just one or two. Diversification is spreading out your money instead of only investing in one area. The definition of risk is the possibility of losing money when investing, because the value of the investment can decrease. Reward is the possibility of gaining money, as the value of the investment can increase, and you will be rewarded with that gained money.

I hope you enjoyed my Investwrite project as much as I enjoyed writing it. This year’s Investwrite has made me think about my dream to own Bake for a Change and to raise money to help endangered animals. I hope you learned a lot about my idea for Bake for a Change, my 10-year investment plan and more. Thank you!