The Budget Challenge Blog

Holly Toft, an Economics teacher at Mount Michael Benedictine School in Elkhorn, NE a seasoned user of Budget Challenge recently shared her experience with us.

At Budget Challenge, we are well aware of the many challenges our teachers are facing due to Covid-19. We know how busy our teachers are with the many additional demands placed on them. Because of that we are pre-releasing sections of our new companion financial literacy textbook which will be included with all Budget Challenge licenses. Our new e-textbook is one of the most up-to-date and comprehensive resources available. It includes significantly expanded content compared to our existing curriculum along with new assessment tools to promote student learning.

To better protect our students we recently updated our policies and no longer require students to register using Personal Identifying Information.

Getting ready to register your class? Here are a few tips to help ensure a smooth registration period.

Many teachers across the country are having to adjust to a Distance Learning platform. We spoke with Celeste Smith in Chicago, IL with CP Online Academy, who utilized Budget Challenge as a successful resource.

We want to invite you to join the fun and take a look at our weekly raffle winners for the 2020 Teacher Challenge. If you see your name on the list and haven't claimed your prize please reach out to us at support@budgetchallenge.freshdesk.com. This does not exclude winners from the money raffles at the end of the Teacher Challenge. Our final and grand prize raffles will take place on August 3rd.

Did you know that Budget Challenge is eligible for full funding under the CARES Act Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (“ESSER”) funds? Find out more here:

Linda Ryan-Catt, a TRIO SSS Academic Counselor and Financial Literacy Instructor took the time to share her recent experience with implementing Budget Challenge into her classroom. "I was very impressed with Budget Challenge because it included curriculum. I found it very student and teacher friendly. Its biggest plus was the webinar and access to customer service. Their rep was very thorough and answered all my questions...and I asked a lot of them. She even came into my screen to demonstrate at times. I thought the simulation was very good, and student friendly with reminders coming into their emails. One of my students complained that he found the simulation tedious and annoying because he was constantly having to go into budget challenge to pay bills, transfer $, etc. Welcome to real life!—only this simulation helped them get through the process more easily. It is a good program. I was not sold when I started working with it last summer, but I found it to be a very good course.”

We recently spoke with Sara Garcés Roselli, Communications Committee Chair at Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation who shared with us their sponsorship mission and the impact that Budget Challenge has had in their students' lives.

Secondary school teachers in the United States and its territories are invited to sign up to play Budget Challenge Teacher Challenge this summer and be entered in a drawing for $1000, $500 and three $250 gift cards.