Student wins essay competition

A Green River High School student was named the state's investment essay winner.

This is the second time in a row a GRHS student has earned this distinction.

Gregory Marchal, GRHS sophomore, was named the Wyoming State winner in the SIFMA Foundation's InvestWrite essay competition with McGraw-Hill Financial, in the high-school division of the Fall 2015 competition.

The SIFMA Foundation's InvestWrite competition was launched in 2004. The program challenges fourth through 12th-grade students to analyze an investment scenario and recommend portfolio allocations targeting short and long-term financial goals. The competition serves as a culminating activity for nearly 600,000 students nationwide who compete in The Stock Market Game program each year.

Marchal, who was in GRHS business teacher Stacie Kettner's investments class, was excited about being named the winner. His teacher felt the same way.

"I do believe that this is a direct reflection of the caliber of the students at GRHS.  Although, I will say, Gregory is a very driven individual, and he works extremely hard to be one of the best students at GRHS," she said about GR's second award in a row.

Marchal said he took the investment class so he would learn more about finance and economics.

"In speech and debate, I do an event that involves current events, which ties closely into finance and economics," Marchal said. "I wanted to learn more about how money works, and the importance of things like the stock market."

Students in the class were divided into teams and asked to play the stock-market game, Kettner said. The game is connected with the actual stock market. Students buy and sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds based on the current market. All of this is played with imaginary cash so the students may make different choices than they would if they were using their own cash, she said.

Marchal was on a team with Kaycee Cochrane and Caleb Nathan. They decided to invest in numerous companies, but decided to focus most of their money on solar-panel companies. They selected this because of the climate change summit that took place in Paris in December 2015. Had the game last one day longer, Marchal's team would have made an additional $20,000.

In addition to the Stock Market Game, Marchal decided to write the essay for the Investwrite competition outside of class.

"I focused my essay on the deciding what different strategies a person should look into before deciding to invest in order to maximize profits with minimal risk," Marchal said.

In Marchal's essay submittal, he gives examples of two stocks -- Apple and First Solar. Apple is a stable stock and First Solar is unstable, but with a huge potential for growth in the future.

"I learned a great deal about the market. One vital lesson I learned is that it is important not to panic," Marchal's said. "Before making financial decisions, it's important to analyze facts because the media tends to exaggerate issues with the markets. I also learned the vocabulary of the stock market, such as terms like dividend."

"Gregory is an outstanding student. He has an amazing desire to learn," Kettner said. "He is constantly reading and studying all different kinds of topics. He gets along well with other students, and seems to be a very happy individual."

Marchal may only be a sophomore, but he plans on majoring in economics before becoming a financial analyst or a lawyer.

"All the information I learned will be absolutely essential for me in the future," Marchal said. "By properly investing my money, I can make great returns that can help me save for things as far down the road as retirement."

"I did think he was capable of achieving this award because Gregory is the type of student that puts his best effort into everything," Kettner said. "I appreciate the efforts of students like Gregory. It is always a pleasure to see students honored for their hard work and dedication."

Marchal is on the speech and debate team, a Student Council member, a mentor, a soccer player and on the tennis team where he won a 4A Doubles Championship with his twin, Patrick. His parents are Andre and Krisena Marchal. Marchal will be recognized by the Wyoming Council on Economic Education in May. He will receive a $25, a medal and a Wyoming Stock Market Game T-shirt. The school will receive a plaque with Marchal's name on it to hang in the classroom.