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Sydney Branstetter, a recent graduate of Waukee High School, finished first place in the statewide Iowa High School Division for SIFMA’s InvestWrite national essay competition. The InvestWrite competition is an innovative national writing challenge that is produced by The Stock Market Game program. One of the overarching goals is to add a critical thinking component to help reinforce concepts learned in the classroom.

Sydney Branstetter is a Waukee APEX alumni of the Finance, Banking, and Investments course.  She stated, “I am honored to receive this award, and it was a complete surprise! I am happy my rationale and understanding of the subject matter impressed the committee.”  Sydney’s entry was 1 of 300 in the state for this spring’s event. Sydney won a $100 gift card along with a trophy that will be kept at the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center.

Jesse Hunt is the instructor for APEX’s Finance, Banking, and Investments course. Hunt explains that  “Each semester, students form teams of four or five to participate in different investment competitions. The purpose of this is so that students can explore different realms of the investment world. InvestWrite serves as a great exercise for students to articulate their investment strategies. The InvestWrite component gives students a better feel for what professionals do in order to design-implement-monitor their strategies as well as pitch their strategies to prospective clients. Through this process, students also discover unique details about companies (environmental issues, workforce support, etc.) that many adults are often unaware of. InvestWrite is a great opportunity for instructors to engage students at a very high level!”

Congratulations to Sydney on a job well done!