Over the summer, when many of us were escaping the Arizona heat, Chandler student Emma Baier was taking 1st place in Arizona and 2nd place nationally in the InvestWrite financial essay competition.

InvestWrite, made possible by the Thunderbirds and delivered by the Arizona Council on Economic Education, challenges 4th – 12th graders to analyze investments and recommend portfolio allocations targeting long term financial goals.

Emma Baier was among 20,000 students nationwide who took the InvestWrite challenge, developing the personal financial savvy needed to make real-world financial decisions. Emma’s winning essay, Tesla vs. Ford, spelled out which is a better investment and why. It takes years to build up the financial savvy to navigate the markets. And Emma is decades ahead of the game. As an 8th grader, Emma claimed this recognition in the middle school division in the spring 2014 competition.

The winning InvestWrite essays are chosen through rigorous judging by thousands of teachers and industry professionals who evaluate students’ understanding of asset allocation, the stock market, and factors that drive investments as well as their expression of investment ideas in essay form. It is a transformative program that prepares students like Emma for college, career and life while teaching them about saving and investing.

“We are so proud of Emma and her accomplishment. Offering this program to Emma and thousands of Arizona students would not be possible without the support of the Thunderbirds. Together we are helping more Arizona students learn and invest well starting at an early age. ” Elena Zee, President and CEO of the Arizona Council on Economic Education.

Founded in 1997, the Arizona Council on Economic Education is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving economic and personal financial literacy in Arizona. This program and others are made possible through generous community donations.

The Thunderbirds Charities present $20,000 grant support to the Arizona Council on Economic Education at a special school assembly on August 14, 2014 to honor Emma’s award-winning accomplishment.

left to right: Elena Zee, President and CEO of the Arizona Council on Economic Education, Emma’s mother Susan Baier, Emma’s teacher Kimberly Meyer – Kyrene Del Pueblo Middle School, Emma Baier -Investwrite winner, Cheryl Ruggiero – Thunderbirds Charities, Bill Hicks – Chairman of the Arizona Council on Economic Education.

*The winning essay is available at http://www.azecon.org/investwrite.html