These students competed among thousands to write the best essay in the country about long-term investing and capital markets. 

Ibana Delgado placed a stack of neatly folded clothes in a cardboard box in her El Paso bedroom as she packed for a 10-hour drive to Houston.

Madeline Saia’s writing recently set a precedent: As an elementary school 11-year-old, she’s the first Montgomery County student to place nationally in a certain essay contest.