The Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy, through Brighter Financial Futures, recently announced that all students grades 3 through 12 will be able to participate in the Spring Semester Personal Budgeting and Investing Challenges for free, according to a press release.

This is thanks to the sponsorship from Woodlands Bank.

Through hands-on activities, students will learn how to budget, pay monthly bills, spending tips and advice, how to build credit and how to invest in the market.

Students with the highest scores and portfolio values in the challenge win prizes.

These competitions are both held in the classroom, county-wide and state-wide. Schools interested can sign up at www.penncfl.org.

The Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy exists to prepare the next generation to rise up, according to the release. Many communities suffer financially due to the lack of management skills and what the release calls a “minimum wage mindset.”

The PennCFL is a 501c(c)3 organization that strives to help Pennsylvania students learn skills that will help them as they build their futures in the workforce and in life. PennCFL’s programs result in over 20,000 registrations in the state, according to the press release.