Money Smart Kids Essay Contest Scholarships!

The annual Money Smart Kid Essay Contest is a creative opportunity for young students to increase their financial awareness and develop and apply their money management skills. All sixth- through eighth-grade students in the St. Louis metropolitan area are encouraged to submit an essay of 500 words or less answering the annual contest question.

This year the question was:

Many American families fall prey to predatory lending every year. What is predatory lending? How can it impact a person, their family and their community? What steps can someone take to avoid falling prey to predatory lendors?

Three winners were selected by a panel of volunteer judges to receive scholarships of $2,000, $1,000, and $500. Though we were not able to present the awards in person this year, we are happy to congratulate them here!

2020 Winners:

First Place Winner:
Anthony Holmes – Florissant, MO

Second Place Winner:
Sophia Lundry – Chesterfield, MO

Third Place Winner:
Blake Schaper – Alton, IL

Essay contest winners were also able to identify local nonprofits to receive a donation on behalf of the students. Nonprofits selected were Affinia Healthcare Foundation (selected by Holmes), Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (selected by Lundry) and the 5 A’s Animal Shelter in Alton (selected by Schaper).

Sponsors of the essay contest include Stifel Bank & Trust, Commerce Bank and Midwest BankCentre. (A full list of sponsors can be found here.)

Please check the website in January 2021 for the 2021 Money Smart Kids Essay Contest Applicataion.

2019 Winners:

The Money Smart Kids essay contest is sponsored by Money Smart St. Louis as part of our region-wide Money Smart Month initiative in April 2019. The contest is part of a nationwide initiative created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002.