Lake County Gazette

Juliet Corush, a fifth-grade student at Westmoor School, has received first place in Illinois in the SIFMA Foundation’s Spring 2025 InvestWrite competition. Her essay focused on building financial stability through informed investing and was selected from thousands of entries across the state. The InvestWrite competition is part of the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game, which uses a simulation to teach students about managing a hypothetical investment portfolio.

Juliet’s essay addressed the importance of diversification, long-term investing, and understanding risk. She proposed using investment returns to support children in need by providing food and school supplies. Juliet wrote, “If I had $10,000, I would use the money to help other kids. For example, I could buy food for the hungry. I don’t want people to suffer without food. It is very important that kids have food. One reason is that kids need to stay healthy or else they will get sick. Without food, kids won’t grow. Kids also need energy to play and to learn in school. Also, I would buy school supplies for schools who need them. School supplies are fun when you use colors and markers. For example, you can be creative with these materials. I make posters for school, and I use whiteboards too. In addition, I want kids to have folders, markers, pens, pencils, paper, and calculators for their schools. They need these to help kids feel organized and comfortable with their different school subjects.”

She continued by outlining her plan: “In order to make this happen, I want to invest in Costco and Tesla. If I invest in Costco and Tesla I would expect to earn more money. I earn more money so I can help kids get more school supplies and feed the hungry. Improving health and knowledge is important to me. Next, I think Nvidia will have more money in the future of the stock market. The world is changing because technology is growing. I think investing in a tech company is smart because technology is getting more advanced. The stock market will be better for me because I can invest more and have more money.”

Juliet also described how she would involve her family: “Continuing, I can teach my family about the stock market, and we can invest together. I will show them that it is important to buy stocks when you want more money, but it is important to buy stocks when they're low. This is important because you earn more money. I would watch the stock market carefully. I do this because when you're losing money you can buy stocks that will bring money in the future. After learning and participating in the Stock Market Game, I will be smart with my money and invest if I need to. When I work hard in the actual stock market, I can follow my dreams.”

She concluded with her hopes: “I hope in my future I can make that dream happen. Unfortunately, some kids don’t have healthy food in their lives. Some people can’t afford the school supplies that I have. I dream that someday this can all happen thanks to the stock market.”

Melanie Mortimer, President of the SIFMA Foundation said: “We’re thrilled to celebrate Juliet for this outstanding achievement,” adding that “This is a powerful example of how financial education helps young people take control of their futures. By understanding long-term investing, students like Juliet are building not just portfolios, but real financial confidence, know-how and independence.”

The InvestWrite program asks students each year to apply lessons from the Stock Market Game—where they manage a simulated $100,000 portfolio—to real-world scenarios involving investment decisions.

Westmoor School belongs to Northbrook School District 28 along with Greenbriar Elementary School, Meadowbrook Elementary School, and Northbrook Junior High School; all are located within Cook County (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to recent data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Northbrook School District 28 employs 182 teachers who receive an average salary of $85,866 before pension contributions; most teachers are women (84 percent) while men comprise about 16 percent (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). No teacher has recorded more than ten absences during a school year.

The district serves a diverse student population composed primarily of White students (77 percent), followed by Asian (13 percent), Hispanic (4 percent), and Black students (1 percent) as reported by ISBE (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020 Northbrook School District 28 spent approximately $34,963 per student with total expenditures reaching over $64 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

Thousands of financial professionals volunteer annually as judges for InvestWrite essays nationwide.