850 Kids Participate in T. Rowe Price Sponsored Money Confident Kids Contest

T. Rowe Price sponsored a Money Confident Kids essay contest with Scholastic, in which kids grades five through eight were challenged to interview a parent or guardian. While the contest was open from August 17 through October 12, 2015, each student wrote a 200-250 word essay about a time their parent or guardian set and achieved a financial goal, connecting that story to financial concepts learned in class like saving and spending wisely.

The students used the essay to share what they learned from the interview and described what lessons they will carry from the story into their own future. Eight hundred fifty kids submitted essays for the contest.

“The purpose was to get parents to talk to their kids about money matters,” says Mark Robinson, vice president and section manager in Corporate Social Responsibility at T. Rowe Price. “We know when parents and kids talk about money it can improve kids' financial behaviors.”

The firm’s 2015 Parents, Kids & Money Survey found that having money conversations with kids may be the single most effective way to teach them about finances. Kids whose parents discussed money with them were more likely to say they’re knowledgeable about managing personal finances, they are smart about investing, and their parents are doing a good job teaching them about money.

The essays were judged on how completely the entrant responded to the essay requirements; their use of financial concepts; and the essay’s construction, spelling, and grammar. Two winners were selected for each of the three prize levels—one each from grades five through six and one each from grades seven through eight—for a total of six winners. In addition to receiving a classroom library of Scholastic books, the winners each received monetary prizes:

• Sixth grader Nathan C. from Omaha, Nebraska and seventh grader Jackson H. from Las Vegas, Nevada won grand prizes of $1,500

• Fifth grader Ellie B. from Fruitland, Idaho and eighth grader Louis P. from Pasadena, Maryland won first place prizes of $1,000

• Fifth grader Aidan R. in St. Paul, Minnesota and eighth grader Emily M. from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania won second place prizes of $500

T. Rowe Price teamed up with Scholastic in early 2015 and will continue its relationship in 2016, creating materials designed to help educators, parents, and volunteers teach and assess student knowledge about basic financial concepts.