Congratulations to our 2025-2026 State Winners!

Contest Details

• Every student currently registered in The Stock Market Game program with a valid team login ID and password is eligible.

• Your students participate by writing essays in their grade division: Elementary (4-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12).

• Every assignment introduces or relates to investment principles linked to The Stock Market Game program. Each InvestWrite assignment ties to various lessons throughout the curriculum.

• Teachers can choose to assign the InvestWrite writing assignment as an in-class or homework assignment.

• Both teachers and students will have a chance to win gift certificates, laptop computers, trips to New York (middle and high school), and other great prizes.

• Each participating student submission has a chance to be reviewed by the competition's first round judge...you, the teacher.

• Then, as the first round judge, you select the top ten responses from each class or group of participants (based on the guidelines and directions).

• Submit your top ten responses from each class electronically to the next round of evaluation at the national level on the  InvestWrite website.

Judging Process

The first round judge is you, the teacher. Once you have selected the top ten essays from your class and submitted them to the national InvestWrite competition, they will be scored by four additional judges. The national judges are members of the securities industry that support the SIFMA Foundation. Each essay is scored based on the following three criteria which are equally weighted:

Understanding the Subject Matter:

Does the student exhibit knowledge regarding the concept of researching and planning an investment strategy? The student should address the scenario using relevant terminology and display an understanding of the core concepts of the stock market in the scenario.

Rationale:

Is the essay thoughtful? The written argument should be presented in a manner that indicates there was a logical thinking process involved in addressing the assignment.

Writing Style: 

Is the student's work interesting to read? Does the written response encourage the reader to continue reading to the conclusion of the essay? Students have an opportunity in this exercise to exhibit the ability to communicate thoughts in an engaging and inviting manner, rather than focusing on grammar and spelling.