Rhodes Elementary School fifth-grade teacher James Gemma had no idea what was coming on Monday afternoon.

He stood in the back corner of the gymnasium during what seemed like a routine meeting, but General Treasurer Seth Magaziner was in attendance as a guest speaker. Gemma did note, though, that some students told him there were blue balloons set up in the gym. He didn’t think anything was amiss.

What happened next had Gemma swept up in a wave of emotion. Magaziner announced that Gemma was the fourth-ever recipient of the Financial Literacy Educator of the Year Award. Gemma is the first-ever non-high school teacher to receive the honor.

Magaziner couldn’t finish saying Gemma’s name before getting drowned out by applause.

“I think what Mr. Gemma has done is show that financial education can start in the early grades, can start in elementary school,” Magaziner told the auditorium filled with students, faculty and guests. “[It is] an example of how this very important kind of learning can start early in life, and not only can students in Rhode Island start financial education at the elementary school level, they can excel just like you all have excelled.”

As his name was announced and students hollered with excitement, Gemma put his hands over his head in disbelief and walked out of the gym for a brief moment. He returned to continued cheers as he approached the podium to receive his award.

Gemma, who was nominated by Principal Erica Williams, was selected for the prestigious accolade because of his students’ involvement with the Stock Market Game and InvestWrite competition. The Stock Market Game allows students to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, Gemma said, to help teach them financial literacy.

According to the game’s official website, more than 17 million students have participated. InvestWrite is an essay competition that is also a “culminating activity” for players of the Stock Market Game.

“I have to say, what you all do here at Rhodes is special because you're a great school and in particular you have some great financial education like the InvestWrite competition, like the Stock Market Game, and this is something that’s really important that’s going to serve you really well later in life,” Magaziner said.

Gemma said the stocks are the real deal, and his pupils have taught him a bit along the way. He had one student invest in AutoZone, for example, which he never would have anticipated growing as steadily as it did.

Another student encouraged him 10 years ago to invest in Apple, which he bought into at $50 per share.

The Stock Market Game has been close to home for Gemma his entire life. His best friend grew up in a low-income area in Cranston and attended Arlington Elementary School, where his sixth-grade teacher taught him the Stock Market Game.

His best friend is now a financial advisor, and Gemma hopes he can have the same sort of indelible mark on his students as well.

“So I figured if I can instill that, get a couple of kids doing this, then I’ve done my job,” Gemma said. “With kids coming out with the student debt that they have now, if they can manage their money a little bit better and invest early on, then maybe they can pay off some of the tremendous debts that they have.”

Mayor Allan Fung, Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse and Ward 1 Councilwoman Lammis Vargas joined Magaziner in congratulating Gemma.

Vargas, whose daughter is an alumna of Rhodes, said Gemma is playing a pivotal role in teaching students how to “manage money effectively.” That’s a skill that she said kids “need to learn at a very young age.”

Fung said the award was a testament to Gemma’s work, and called it a “wonderful occasion.”

Magaziner not only recognized Gemma for his accomplishments, but offered words of advice to the students to keep expanding their financial knowledge.

“As you get older and as you continue with school, pay attention to every subject, but in particular I want to say learning about how money works. Learning how to manage money and save money and invest money is really important and it’s going to serve you well for the rest of your lives,” he said.

Magaziner told the Herald after the presentation that Rhode Island is only one of 13 states that does not have personal finance written into its statewide curriculum as a requirement. He said the state is pushing to get to that point, but Gemma’s example is a excellent one to follow.

“I hope we award it to teachers at all levels for many years to come,” he said. “You don't have to wait for high school or even middle school. I started out my career as an elementary school teacher. I taught third and fourth grade and we had personal finance in our curriculum then, and so it’s something that’s possible.”