Jefferson 5th-Grader Takes Investment Skills to the Bank

For fifth-grader Callie Sundin, she just gets it.

That was the explanation from Jeff Brown, Gifted and Talented teacher at Thomas Jefferson School and overseer of an investment project in conjunction with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation, a national educational non-profit that works with, among others, school-aged children in developing their knowledge and understanding of financial markets.

And, it’s not all she got. At a special after-school assembly on Friday, Feb. 4, she sat in the Thomas Jefferson auditorium like the rest of the students. That is, until the 11-year-old’s essay on investing was named the top submitted in New Jersey, which garnered Callie a $100 gift card, a trophy and a really big surprise.

“I had no clue,” she said as she help up the giant trophy and got hugs and kisses from her parents, Glen and Betsy. “I didn’t really know until [they started talking about the winning entry].”

As the students were quieted down and the assembly was about to begin, Brown smiled. “She has absolutely no idea.”

The essay was the culmination of a 10-week project where Brown’s students got $100,000 in fake money to “invest” online. Students could go about their investments in any way they wanted.

“Some kids are aggressive with their money, some are so tight with it,” Brown said. “They lose a dollar and they’re upset.”

The essay is part of SIFMA’s “InvestWrite” program, which, in collaboration with SIFMA’s The Stock Market Game program, “adds a critical thinking component to help reinforce concepts learned in the classroom,” according to the program’s website, www.investwrite.info. Students in grades four through 12 participate nationally in the essay contest.

Nancy Kahn, with SIFMA, told students during the assembly how 9,000 students wrote these essays nationwide last fall. Of those, only 2,000 were from the elementary school level. Of those, only 595 made it to the finals. And, of those, “there were only 21 essays in New Jersey,” she said.

Callie’s essay was chosen as the winner in New Jersey “through rigorous judging on the basis of her analysis of asset allocation, the investment potential of various publicly traded stocks, an overall understanding of the stock market and the manner in which she expressed her investment ideas in essay form,” according to SIFMA press release.

Brown said Callie has a strong understanding of finances. “She really did a nice job,” he said. “These are recommendations by a kid, but anyone can use them.”

To keep the playing field level, every student’s essay for the InvestWrite contest had to be written only during class time. “She just went and this is what she created,” Brown said.

Callie’s father Glen called his daughter a well-rounded individual, citing her prowess not only in scholastic endeavors but also in athletics, as the number two ranked alpine skier in New Jersey.

“Callie is 18-karat,” said her mother, Betsy. “I tell her I want to be like her when I grow up. She likes to do everything. It’s thrilling; she gives 400 percent to everything she does.”

While she has a while to go, Callie said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up, or perhaps take this knowledge that won her accolades and awards and trade on Wall Street.

And, that $100 gift card she got for her essay? “I’m going to put it in my savings account,” she said.