These Kids Beat Wall Street: St. Mary's Crown Point Takes Top Spot

Northwest Indiana Students Outperform Stock Market and Regional Peers in Big Shoulders Fund Stock Market Program

St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point managed the highest-performing stock portfolio

June 1, 2026, (Crown Point, IN) – St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point has won the 18th annual Big Shoulders Fund Stock Market Program, outperforming more than 60 participating schools across Chicago and Northwest Indiana with a portfolio that grew 50.3%.

The year-long program provides eighth grade students with a unique, hands-on opportunity to learn the basics of saving and investing, money management, the stock market, and careers in finance and business. Supported by more than 150 top finance and business leaders as volunteer teachers, each class was provided with $3,000 to manage a portfolio. Alongside volunteer financial professionals, the students researched stocks, built a portfolio strategy, and created presentations to justify their decisions.

“I’m so incredibly proud of my St. Mary’s students,” said St. Mary Catholic Community School Principal Tom Ruiz. “Thanks to Oak Partners’ generous sponsorship, our students had the opportunity to learn directly from finance professionals and gain real-world experience in investing, finance, and business careers. Isabella Kowalczyk of Oak Partners played an important role in leading the instruction and mentoring our students, and to see them apply what they learned and outperform the S&P 500 in such a tumultuous year was truly remarkable.”

The top-performing schools received awards, and top student stock pickers received prizes, like an iPad or Kindle Fire, and each student received a 2% management fee based on the ending value of the class portfolio. The rest of the portfolio was donated to the school as a class gift.

“These are smart students who are eager to learn, and the performance of their portfolio demonstrates their massive potential,” said Isabella Kowalczyk. “With the fluctuations across global markets and the general unpredictability of the stock market this past year, these students did an outstanding job and deserve the recognition. Their performance reflects their effort and ability to apply what they learned in a real-world setting.”

The winning school, St. Mary Catholic Community School, was sponsored by Oak Partners, with classroom instruction led by Isabella Kowalczyk, Associate Wealth Advisor, and Jonathan Zemaitis, LPL Registered Administrative Associate. Kowalczyk also serves as a Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana Auxiliary Board Member.

The Stock Market Program concludes each year with a capstone celebration recognizing top-performing schools and student investors. This year, the event was held at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago where more than 500 students gathered from schools across Chicago and Northwest Indiana with excitement and anticipation to hear the announcement of who managed the best performing portfolio.

“Many of these students may have never thought about pursuing a career in finance or business and may never have thought of the stock market as something accessible to them,” said Dan Kozlowski, Executive Director of Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana. “Programs like this open doors by building knowledge, confidence, and real-world experience. Achieving 50.3% growth in one year is an exceptional accomplishment. If they start their own financial management company one day, I might line up to be their first client.”

Mentors, leaders, program developers, teachers, principals, and volunteers were also in attendance to support the students, including Josh Hale, CEO of Big Shoulders Fund; Jim Hoeg of Alyeska Investment Group; Kristina Edwards of United Airlines; Charlie Bobrinskoy of Ariel Capital Management, Martin Cabrera, CEO of Cabrera Capital; Danan Kriby, CFA and Vice President, Client Portfolio Manager at Ariel Investments; Suzanne Yoon, Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital, and other leaders.

Front row, left to right:

DeSean Torres, Ava Grace Licupa-Pineda, Bethany Cox, Samuel Despaltro, Luke Howard, and Regina Andras

Second row, left to right:

Isabella (Izzy) Kowalczyk, Valerie Burbach, Sean Johansson, Luca Trajkovski, and Ethan Tirado

Third row, left to right:Tom Ruiz, Dan Kozlowski, and Shellie Zaberdac

Sean Johansson, Luca Trajkovski, DeSean Torres, Ethan Tirado, Ava Grace Licupa-Pineda, Bethany Cox, Samuel Despaltro, Luke Howard, and Regina Andras, Isabella Kowalczyk (Oak Partners), Valerie Burbach (teacher), Tom Ruiz, Principal

St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point offers grade levels Junior Pre-Kindergarten (for three-year-olds) through grade eight.  Students in all grades are provided with opportunities for fun projects and activities to make learning interesting and relevant.  To learn more about St. Mary’s School visit school.stmarycp.org or call 663-0676 to request a tour.