Senior Shane McNeil was chosen as the winner of the South Central region of the Invest Ed investment report contest that teaches students to be smart about investing.

McNeil was one of seven high school students chosen by the Oklahoma Securities Commission as a regional winner in the Invest Ed contest.

“I was so excited when I found out that they chose my report. I put a lot of hard work into it and I’m glad they saw that,” McNeil said.

Computer science teacher Jeff Prater introduces the Invest Ed program to his students as part of his personal financial literacy class. Prater said he was very excited for Shane when he got the news that Shane was a finalist.

“It’s a huge deal. The Oklahoma Securities Commission and the University of Oklahoma put a lot of funding behind this project. To get to this level is a great accomplishment,” Prater said.

Senior Sam Kimbrough, who was also chosen to enter  his report, said he is happy for his classmate.

“Shane worked so hard on his report. He put so much time and effort into it and he definitely deserves to win,” Kimbrough said.

Invest Ed is focused on teaching students how to manage finances and takes an in depth look at the stock market. Students learn how to invest money wisely to make a profit over a long period of time.  They start with $500,000 to invest in a mock portfolio of stocks and report their earnings and losses in a log to track their progress.

Marlow is one of 75 schools that are registered in the South-Central region of the state. Students from these schools submitted reports based on what they learned from their investments in November, and winners were judged for the writing and content of their report.

Shane will receive $250 for his winning report at an awards ceremony that will be held at the University of Oklahoma in January. The overall state winner will be announced at the banquet as well. If he is chosen as the state winner, he will receive another $1,000.