When Gabrielle Jacobs joined Saturday Academy, part of the North Carolina Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) Pre-College Program, she was following in her siblings’ footsteps.

Her older brother and sister had participated in the Saturday Academy program before her, and one elective stood out in their stories at home: the stock market course offered through the YES Consortium. They talked about it often, describing the challenge of building portfolios, tracking market patterns and learning how investing worked in real time. Their enthusiasm formed an impression.

So when Gabrielle and her twin brother reached middle school, their parents encouraged them to enroll. That decision helped launch an experience Gabrielle now describes as one of the most meaningful parts of her education.

Today, the ninth grader is the statewide champion of North Carolina’s Stock Market Game after building the top-performing portfolio among student competitors across the state. Over the course of the school year, Gabrielle generated roughly $60,000 in virtual gains through the competition, earning first place and a $300 stock award through the YES Consortium.

“I was very surprised,” Gabrielle said. “I could never have imagined my investment would be the best in the state.”

While her victory is a standout achievement, it also demonstrates the greater impact of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation’s NC-MSEN program, which provides students with advanced STEM learning experiences that connect classroom principles to everyday applications.

A STEM Experience Outside the Classroom

MSEN Saturday Academy introduces students to a wide range of STEM disciplines through hands-on enrichment, guest speakers and elective coursework. For Gabrielle, the variety keeps the experience new and interesting.

“I absolutely love MSEN,” she said. “I am excited when I go to MSEN for Saturday Academy. I love the variety. We may be dissecting an animal one weekend and the next, listening to a guest speaker or investing in the virtual stock market. It’s a melting pot to learn so much about every aspect of STEM.”

That broad exposure is central to the program’s mission. By introducing students to multiple STEM pathways, MSEN helps them identify interests, build confidence and imagine futures they may not have considered before.

For Gabrielle, one of those pathways became finance and investing.

The YES Consortium’s stock market course has been part of Saturday Academy for more than a decade, teaching students how markets work, how to evaluate companies and how to think strategically about investing. Students hear from professionals in finance, learn investment terminology and manage virtual portfolios through the statewide Stock Market Game.

The goal is practical learning through experience.

“You don’t really understand something until you actually have that experience,” said YES Consortium founder Kim Knox. “What we’re giving you is a real-life skill that you can apply now.”

Research, Strategy and Confidence

Gabrielle approached the competition with discipline. Rather than blindly chasing trends, she researched companies she did not know, studied broader market movements and evaluated which businesses she believed were positioned for future growth.

“First, I did research on companies I was not familiar with and thought to myself, what is trending in the world?” she said. “How are these companies going to impact the future?”

She balanced those investments with more established companies to create a diversified portfolio. That strategy delivered the strongest result in the state.

Yet Gabrielle says the most important takeaway was not the trophy.

“It pays to do your own research and not just follow the crowd and do what everyone is doing,” she said. “Believe in your own intuition.”

The lesson goes beyond investing. It reflects the analytical thinking, independent judgment and confidence-building MSEN strives to cultivate through experiential STEM education.

A Family Tradition of Learning

Gabrielle’s success did not emerge in isolation.

Her family has long supported exploration and academic ambition. Her mother works in the medical field, and both parents regularly encourage their children to pursue new opportunities and interests.

“They really work hard to try to give us opportunities,” Gabrielle said.

That encouragement has produced a clear pattern. Gabrielle’s sister now studies engineering at Wake Forest University. Her brother, a former MSEN student who also completed the stock market program, studies economics at Dartmouth College.

For Gabrielle, seeing her siblings thrive reinforced her own interest in STEM and showed what was possible through sustained academic engagement. She now plans to attend college and ultimately own her own business.

Asked what she values most about STEM, her answer is expansive.

“I like that STEM is incorporated in every aspect of life,” she said. “It is very impactful in deciphering the future of almost everything in existence.”

Displaying the Power of Partnership

Gabrielle’s story illustrates what the Friday Institute seeks to achieve through MSEN: expanding access to high-quality STEM enrichment and helping students translate curiosity into capability.

The partnership between the Friday Institute and the YES Consortium has made that possible for students across multiple counties, extending access to financial literacy and experiential learning opportunities beyond what many traditional classrooms offer.

“It’s priceless,” Knox said of the partnership. “We’re able to have a greater impact through this network.”

Braska Williams, director of the NC-MSEN Pre-College Program, said the stock market elective remains one of Saturday Academy’s most distinctive offerings because it gives students exposure to real-world financial and analytical skills while keeping them deeply engaged. For Gabrielle, the program has done more than teach investment strategy.

It gave her an opportunity to explore new interests, strengthened her confidence in her own judgment and provided her with opportunities that influenced how she sees her future. And in the process, it turned a Saturday elective into a state championship.