Pond Road Middle School student Ronnie Ray has been named New Jersey’s first-place winner in the national InvestWrite competition, a financial writing contest hosted by the SIFMA Foundation.
Ray, a fifth grader and aspiring Broadway actress, won top honors after writing an essay about long-term investing, drawing inspiration from the lessons she learned while playing the “Stock Market Game” — a virtual simulation in which students manage a hypothetical $100,000 in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cash.
She was first introduced to investing by Renee Cucinotti, her teacher at Sharon Elementary School, and quickly became captivated by how financial markets react to world events.
“To Ronnie, investing represents a path for her to fulfill her dreams on Broadway while remaining financially stable,” said her mother, Melissa Ray. “It is a means to an end in order for her to secure her legacy.”
Ray’s winning essay explained how long-term investing can grow capital and reduce risk, offering a practical way to plan for the future. Her submission was selected from thousands of entries.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Ronnie for this outstanding achievement,” said Melanie Mortimer, president of the SIFMA Foundation.
“This is a powerful example of how financial education helps young people take control of their futures,” Mortimer said. “By understanding long-term investing, students like Ronnie are building not just portfolios, but real financial confidence, know-how and independence.”
Although she had already graduated to Pond Road, Sharon Elementary School marked Ray’s victory with a banner.
According to her mother, she didn’t mind missing it — instead seeing it as her own example of legacy, echoing the line from Hamilton: “Legacy is planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”
Ray was recognized during the Sept. 30 Robbinsville Board of Education meeting, where her family, Cucinotti, and Superintendent Dr. Patrick Pizzo were in attendance.
“It was such a pleasure to see Ronnie smiling ear to ear,” Pizzo said. “All of us in the district are incredibly impressed both by her knowledge of financial markets and her writing ability.
“We look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the years ahead — and wish her the best of luck on her Broadway dreams.”
When asked her favorite stock during the meeting, Ray replied: “Nvidia, because it did so well in her portfolio.”
Ray’s full essay
When I work on the Stock Market Game, I always think it’s about luck and strategy. I like to invest in a lot of companies so if one does badly, I have other stocks that are doing well, which means my portfolio won’t go down too much. I feel like this game helps prepare me for the future.
My dream is to be a Broadway star and if I achieve that dream, I will have one problem. I know actors who perform on Broadway don’t make a lot of money so I would most likely invest in stocks so I would have enough money. There is one type of investment that sticks out to me, long-term investments.
I learned you should hold on to your long term investments because your companies stocks could increase if you do so. It also shows how fast stocks can go up and down. My long-term investments have stable companies, which ensures that everything will be less risky. Most importantly, it can increase my portfolio’s value over time. I learned that $100,000 is a lot of money. If I only had $10,000, I would change my plan.
The first thing I would do is buy a combination of cheap and good companies. I’d do this so I would have stocks that will increase in value over time and stocks that are cheap so I can take a risk with them. I would then wait for my stocks to do very well so I can sell them. Then I would have more money so I can get other companies that might be more expensive, and that’s how I can get a successful path with $10,000. Another thing is very important in the decisions I make.
Before buying stocks, I look at everything, but mostly the closing price, the current price, the market cap, the beta, and the asking price. If it’s not too expensive and everything else looks good I would get the stock. I would get a lot of shares if the demands were low. I always buy companies that I have bought from, because if I don’t buy from it, why would anyone else buy from it?
All and all, the Stock Market Game prepares me for my dreams by giving me a head start on how to invest in the stock market. I’m very glad that I have good stocks, and I am very proud of myself for doing so well. Through highs and lows, ups and downs, it has been a wonderful experience that I love.
