Financial Literacy Month is just around the corner in April. If you’re looking for ideas on how to celebrate, check out what some of the Personal Finance Specialists in our Financial Equity and Empowerment Grant districts have planned. 

Both the NGPF and Jordan Brand Financial Equity and Empowerment (FEE) Grants help ensure more students of color have access to personal finance education by investing resources into the most diverse high school districts in the U.S. Each recipient school district receives ongoing support from a Personal Finance Specialist throughout the lifetime of the grant. Get inspired by their plans for FinLit Month. 

Host a Student Conference

Denver Public Schools is hosting a one day FinLit Student Conference open to all high school students to help them understand how to level up financially. The four-hour conference will feature a guest speaker, lunch, prizes, and an opportunity for students to meet other students from across the district. 

Incorporate Daily Themes

Fulton County Schools is aligning NGPF activities to days of the week. Every Monday is a Move Monday that features an NGPF MOVE activity as well as an Arcade Game. They will do Talk Tuesdays featuring webinars with personal finance experts; That Costs What? Wednesdays featuring the So Expensive series; Tweet Thursdays where they tweet questions to finance expert accounts; and FinCap Fridays. 

This is a great way to use NGPF’s free resources and activities in a predictable way that still keeps things changing throughout the week. 

Hold an Essay Contest

Miami-Dade Public Schools is hosting an essay contest for students Kindergarten through 12th grade with four different prompts based on grade level. Awards will go to first, second, and third place in K-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12 categories. 

Younger students respond to questions around the differences between what they want to buy and what they need to buy, while older students will be asked to research U.S. student loan debt and explain its social, economic, and political impacts. 

Organize a Family FinLit Night

One of the benefits of taking a personal finance course is that students often share what they learn with their parents, who may not have access to financial information. 

Milwaukee Public Schools is getting families involved during FinLit Month by hosting a Family FinLit Night open to all staff, students and their families. The event will feature workshops on credit building, home ownership, and real estate investment as well as dinner and a prize drawing. 

Submit Student-Written Op-Eds to Your Local Paper

Whether you are in a state that is considering a personal finance course guarantee, you live in one that has adopted a guarantee, or you think your state should consider this kind of legislation, it can be powerful for local policymakers and constituents to hear directly from students about why a personal finance course is important. 

Philadelphia Financial Scholars, which supports the School District of Philadelphia, plans to submit op-eds to the local paper during FinLit Month. You can take this idea and have your class work together or individually on an opinion piece and submit it to the editorial section of your local newspaper. Here are 15 tips from the New York Times for how to write an op-ed. 

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Want more ideas for FinLit Month? We’ll be continually updating this webpage with resources, events, and ideas as the month gets closer. 

About the Author

Hannah Rael

As NGPF's Marketing Communications Manager, Hannah (she/her) helps spread the word about NGPF's mission to improve the financial lives of the next generation of Americans.