An investment in time and effort earned Alexandra Greene, a fifth grader at Rhodes Elementary School, a winning spot in a national essay contest about the stock market.

Greene’s class, led by teacher James Gemma, entered the “InvestWrite” essay competition after being involved in The Stock Market Game, a game that gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an online portfolio using stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

At a Jan. 29 assembly, Greene was surprised with the news.

“She thinks she’s just going to a regular monthly assembly for the fourth, fifth and sixth graders,” said Principal Kenny Blackman before the announcement.

Greene’s parents, Sheryl and Adam Greene, got a phone call from Blackman two weeks before the assembly telling them that their daughter had been the Rhode Island winner in the essay contest, and a surprise assembly in her honor was being planned.

It wasn’t until Alexandra saw her parents and her younger brother, AJ, a first grader, at the assembly that she knew something was up.

“I was so surprised,” she said through tears.

Elizabeth Reidel, the northeast regional director for The Stock Market Game, came to the assembly from Connecticut to notify Greene of her award and to present her with her prizes.

“To us, it’s important to learn the key concepts about savings and investing and to be able to write about it,” said Reidel. “During the fall semester almost 200,000 students in the United States wrote essays about their participation in the competition.”

In Rhode Island alone, 55 students entered essays into the competition and eight made it to the final round, according to Reidel.

“I wrote about how my team chose to invest in the Disney stock because they have many different ways of making money,” said Greene, citing the company’s store, radio station, movies, and tourist attractions as examples of Disney’s diverse income strategies.

At Rhodes, Reidel addressed the students about the work that’s involved in playing the game.

“The Stock Market Game is a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work too,” she told them. “The fact that you’re learning all of this in elementary school is very important.”

In addition to discussing the efforts of the students, Reidel was sure not to overlook the importance of Gemma’s involvement in the whole process as well.

“Teachers are the backbone of the InvestWrite Competition,” she said.

Gemma said the entire class wrote essays for the competition. Names were then covered up so the students could objectively vote for the five essays they thought were the best.

“Alexandra’s was right on the cusp and it got voted in,” he explained.

This is the fourth year that Gemma has played the game with his class, but the first year participating in the essay competition.

Greene, her classmates, her teacher, and her school all received prizes as part of the award package presented that day. The school received a trophy to display in their school’s trophy case and the class received munchkins from Dunkin Donuts.

Gemma received a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble, while Greene was given balloons, a certificate, a drawstring backpack and a $100 American Express gift card. She and Gemma, along with several of her classmates will also be attending an awards banquet at one of the Newport mansions later on this spring.

When asked how Greene planned to spend her money, she showed off her financial literacy with her answer.

“I’m going to save half and spend half,” she said.