Massapequa High School sophomore Anthony Becker was named the first place New York State winner in the Fall 2007 National "InvestWrite" student essay competition sponsored by the Foundation for Investor Education (FIE).

Anthony, a student in Susan Thompson's Personal Money Management course at MHS - Main Campus wrote about what stocks he would purchase if he was stranded on the moon for three years, and what stocks he would purchase if he was gone for thirty years.

Anthony chose Apple and Honda respectively, the latter for its work with hybrid vehicles. Anthony's father, Tony Becker, who works for the Federal Aviation Administration, always taught Anthony about energy conservation, and expressed happiness and pride that his teachings affected Anthony's ideas for his essay.

"It's nice to know that he's been listening to me all these years," Mr. Becker said with pride. Anthony's family, including his father, his mother Tina, his brother Andy, and his grandmother Fanny Oliviero surprised him at school, along with FIE representative Carla Helgins, to inform him of his achievement. Ms. Helgins presented Anthony with a trophy and balloons, in addition to an American Express gift card.

The fall 2007 "InvestWrite" competition experienced a record of 14,928 student participants, an increase of 34 percent over participation in 2006. Winning essays were chosen through rigorous judging from among 1,422 classrooms nationwide. Judging criteria included student understanding of the subject matter, analysis of the topic, and writing quality.

FIE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the level of investor education across the country, created "InvestWrite" to reinforce students' critical thinking skills and bridge classroom learning in mathematics, social studies, business and economics, with the practical knowledge required for successful saving and investing. The competition is an innovative extension of the award-winning, curriculum-based Stock Market Game(tm) (SMG) Program, which for three decades has helped students learn the fundamentals of long-term saving and investing and how the capital markets work.