A Mancos student brought home first in the state in a state essay competition on investments called "InvestWrite" this summer.

Freshman Caleb Yoder drew top honors for his well-reasoned essay that explained why Hill International Construction, a California company, was a solid investment.

He wrote the essay last school year in his Stock Market Game class, an elective at Mancos Middle School, and won in the middle school category.

His teacher Ivy Dalley asked the whole class to recommend investments in their essays and then picked the top submissions to the send to the competition. Yoder said he enjoys writing but didn't have high expectations.

"I didn't give it a second thought," he said.

Yoder ended up faring much better in the essay competition than his virtual portfolio did in the Stock Market Game. His team ended up losing money, but he walked away with a much better understanding of the challenges of investing.

"It's a roller coaster for sure," he said.

He said it was fun to do it virtually, but he wouldn't do it by himself

The competition was sponsored by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's foundation and McGraw Hill Financial. About 20,000 students across the nation enter the InvestWrite essay contest each year.