- Stephanie Ong and her Pueblo Middle School teacher Darlene Abel.
Stephanie Ong, an eighth grader at Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School in west Chandler, is the national first-place winner of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s InvestWrite student essay competition.
Stephanie claims top prize for the middle-school division of the national competition.
Stephanie and her teacher, Darlene Abel, were presented with a trophy, prizes and award certificates by a representative of The Arizona Council on Economic Education at Pueblo’s annual awards ceremony.
Able has taught eighth-grade social studies at Pueblo since 1995.
Winning students travel to New York on July 18 for a “Wall Street Experience” designed to make their virtual experience “real” by inviting them to tour financial landmarks and visit the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
As a culminating activity for 600,000 participants, Investwrite challenges fourth-through-12th graders to analyze an investment scenario, think critically and provide a long-term financial plan.
Students address real-world economic factors and trends, which is said to better prepare them for their own financial futures. Stephanie is one of 20,000 students each year across who participate in the challenge nationwide.
In her essay, Stephanie described a conversation with an imaginary stock, writing that the stock persuaded her it would be a good investment when she learned it was offered by Apple.
“It convinced me that it was perfect stock to join my savings that I’m setting aside for college because of the company’s products and services, the stock’s past performance and the well-being of the company’s future.”
Stephanie’s winning essay was chosen through judging by thousands of teachers and industry professionals who evaluate students’ analysis of asset allocation, the investment potential of various publicly traded stocks, their overall understanding of the stock market and the manner in which they express their investment ideas in essay form.
Stephanie’s essay: Apple for Sale
The cool, fresh air tickled my nose as I briskly walked the routine path to school. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following me. A blur of movement caught my eye as I passed an unusually large bush and right there before me was a stock-that talked! We conversed and walked down the street until we reached my first-hour class. I then discovered the stock was an Apple Inc. stock! It convinced me that it was a perfect stock to join my savings that I’m setting aside for college because of the company’s products and services, the stock’s past performance, and the well-being of the company’s future.
Apple Inc. is an international company that provides an abundance of products and services. This will include the Macintosh (Mac) computers, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Xserve, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the Mac OSX and iOS operating systems, third-party digital content and applications. In this modern-day society, these innovative products are the foundation of our world. Apple is a great corporation that sells and distributes these high tech products. Apple recently introduced their new product, the iPad 2. It sold over 300,000 units in the first 24 hours on sale and nearly 1 million units in its launch weekend. Apple has devised unique products and phenomenal services ever since it first started.
The Apple Company was founded in April 1976 when Apple released the Apple I computer. In December 1980, Apple went public and sold 4.6 million AAPL shares at $22 each and sold out within minutes! The second offering, in May 1981, of 2.6 million shares quickly sold out. Now it could be bought for nearly 88 times more at the increasing price of $353.46. As for the P/E ratio of 18.87, which is relatively low for a high tech growth company, it is minimally decreasing. Apple has been an exceptional business throughout the years and excels in making the best of technology.
I have very high expectations for this company and believe it will do very well in the future. As the future proceeds, our population will rely more and more on technology and Apple is a great company to supply the demand. Every year Apple introduces a new line of products. Whether it’s a new or improved service or product, each year gets better and better. I expect this company to transform technology into something extraordinary over a four to five year span—just in time for college.
Apple’s products and services, its stocks’ past performance and the well-being of Apple’s future are some of the reasons why this stock is the perfect stock to join my savings. Apple has been operating and selling goods for about 35 years and is still striving to be the best! This company has faced some difficult times, but still has the audacity to keep their company alive. I hope Apple will be open for years to come and I would highly recommend buying this stock for a long term investment!
