JACKSONVILLE — A fifth-grader at Arnold Drive Elementary School is a national-champion essay writer.
Mariah Roberts’ essay, “Keep on Trucking,” about J.B. Hunt, won first place in the InvestWrite elementary essay contest. She was informed that she won first place out of 2,000 entries.
Mariah’s teacher, Rick Kron, said only students who participate in the Stock Market Game can submit entries for the InvestWrite Essay Contest.
“I requite writing in my classroom, so I had 26 essays,” Kron said. “I’m allowed to send up to 10. I don’t send them unless they are A-quality to begin with. Even though we’re happy with a B, a B isn’t going to win a national contest.”
Kron said he’s had students previously place in the top 10 in the same contest.
“In the fall, we had the sixth-best and seventh-best in the nation,” he said. “We’ve never had a No. 1. This time we got No. 1. That means it’s the top essay in the nation. It’s a monster deal.”
Kron said there are several qualifications for the essays.
“You had to pick a company that you’d like to work for when you get older,” he said, and “explain why it’s a good company to work for, why it’s a good company to invest in and what investment advice you would give the chief financial officer.
“A lot of research goes into it.”
Mariah was surprised that she won the contest.
“I didn’t know it was this big of a deal,” she said. “I wrote it because my dad worked [for J.B. Hunt]. I never got to meet him. It’s for him.”
Mariah’s father, Garl “Shorty” Roberts, was a truck driver who previously worked for J.B. Hunt before leaving to work for a family trucking business. Garl Roberts was killed in an accident in March 2006, when his wife, Crystal, was pregnant with Mariah.
“When he was working one day, he was driving a big truck, and he was in a wreck,” Mariah said of her father. “He was coming down a hill, while this guy had parked in the middle of the road. He tried to stop, but his brakes didn’t work. He died from the impact.”
“That was a big salute to him,” Kron said of Mariah’s winning essay.
Mariah received her award during an assembly at the school May 7.
“Her mom had her dress up and had to tell a little fib that we were retaking class pictures so she wouldn’t wonder what was going on,” Kron said.
Mariah said she was shocked when she heard her named announced.
“I couldn’t even speak … I was so excited and surprised,” she said.
“She actually stood up and sat back down instead of coming up to the stage,” Kron said.
Mariah received a laptop computer, a digital camera and a $150 cash card. She also received several medallions and certificates and was given a replica J.B. Hunt 18-wheeler signed by CFO David Mee.
Kron said Mariah’ wrote four or five drafts for her essay.
“It was also an exercise in keyboarding because you have to submit these electronically,” he said. “Not only did they have to write the essay; they had to keyboard it in.
“We probably had more keyboarding issues than you would have if you hand-wrote it.”
Kron said the research that goes into the essays is “tremendous.”
“You find a company; then she had to check on its finances, then had to go to a number of sites to find out how they treat their employees,” Kron said.
When she picked J.B. Hunt, Mariah didn’t realize it was an Arkansas company but didn’t want to be like her classmates and pick a “popular” company.
“Everybody else was gong to write about Google and other companies that are more popular,” she said. She was also interested in Mee.
“He is one of the best CFOs in the United States,” Mariah said.
Arnold Drive principal Janice Walker is proud of Mariah and her accomplishment.
“I’m very excited. … I always tell all of my students to reach for the stars, so when we got the news that she had won, I was excited, and the school was excited, and our district was excited,” Walker said. “It’s a lot of hard work for her, but it’s very rewarding. Her teacher (Kron) is the key to all of it.
“Having that teacher who is challenging students at that level and her writing going up against 2,000 other students … that speaks volumes for the teacher. That speaks volumes for her and and also the support that she has from her family.”
Mariah said that in her free time, she likes to read and write.
“I enjoy reading,” she said. “I have three full book series at my house. I’ve always enjoyed some writing prompts, like this one,” referring to the InvestWrite contest.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.