Elementary students across Fairfax County are getting a new tool to learn about saving and patience, written and illustrated by three of their neighbors at Oakton High School.

Dev Rai, Austin Chen and Ayush Ranjan, members of Oakton's DECA chapter, created "The Seed That Grows," a children's book that uses a simple story to teach young kids the value of delayed gratification. In the book, two children each receive a seed. One plants it and waits for a tree to grow. The other trades it for a piece of candy.

The trio distributed 274 copies to 12 Fairfax County elementary schools and five international schools. Translated versions reached India, China, Kazakhstan and Australia through connections their adviser, Dr. Gaamaa Hishigsuren, has at the World Bank, WTOP reported Friday, July 25.

They raised more than $1,000 to fund the printing and hosted read-aloud sessions at schools, surveying students before and after. Rai told WTOP the surveys showed a 74% improvement in understanding among the elementary students who participated.

Rai, who will be a senior at Oakton in the 2026-27 school year, co-founded the group's initiative, titled The Cash Classroom. He said the project grew out of a gap he and his teammates noticed: almost no financial literacy materials existed for the youngest students.

"Many of the habits, such as having patience and gratitude, actually start at the elementary school level," Rai told WTOP.

The project earned first place in Virginia DECA's Project Management: Financial Literacy category. Oakton's DECA chapter is the largest in Virginia, with 186 members traveling to the state leadership conference during the 2024-25 school year and 70 qualifying for the international competition.

The students are now developing TAYU, a free financial literacy app they describe as the next phase of the initiative. They are seeking elementary and middle school students to beta-test it, along with schools, nonprofits, libraries and youth organizations interested in partnering.

Rai credited DECA advisers Jesse Gershuny, Lesley Ram Thorne, Sarah Hinkhouse, Melvin Barrow Jr. and Kelly Wolfe for supporting the work. The group says it will announce beta-test details through its social media accounts.