Congratulations to Erin and all of our 2025–2026 InvestWrite winners! These students competed among thousands to write the best essay in the country about long-term investing and capital markets.
Erin's essay stood out for its clear reasoning and practical application of investing principles. Rather than focusing only on performance, it showed an understanding of asset allocation, long-term planning, and how to refine a strategy based on experience.
Erin, a student at Unionville Elementary School in Pennsylvania, placed 4th nationally in the elementary division in Spring 2026. She and her teacher Eva Straub were honored by the SIFMA Foundation and the Pennsylvania Foundation for Free Enterprise Education during a ceremony on June 5, 2026.
Spring 2026 national first-place winners
- Elementary: Shira Trilling, John Philip Sousa Elementary School, NY
- Middle school: Aadya Awasthi, Dawson County Middle School, GA
- High school: Josephine Frimpong, Frederick Douglass High School, KY
Josephine Frimpong also won first place in the middle school division in Spring 2025, one of several students who have placed nationally more than once.
Fall 2026 is open
This semester's prompt asks students which stock, bond or mutual fund investment taught them the biggest lesson, and how they will use it to build a long-term, diversified portfolio. Essays are due Wednesday, December 9, 2026.
Original release: sifmafoundation.org/investwrite/news/congratulations-our-2025-2026-investwrite-winners ↗
