Banzai

Banzai is a financial literacy program that NorthRidge sponsors for many schools on the Iron Range and Ely. It teaches personal finance through interactive scenarios and exposes students to real-life financial dilemmas. Teachers can customize the program to fit their curriculum within their classroom, spending between 2-6 weeks with Banzai.

Banzai explores many major hurdles that students can face when they must stretch a paycheck over life’s expenses. Using real-life scenarios and role playing, this digitally based program helps students learn how to prioritize their spending decisions. Students learn the connection between financial decisions and funding important personal goals – like college and making other big purchases.

An example of the Teen program: Students navigate through life-based scenarios on the digital Banzai platform. Scenarios such as balancing a budget to adjust for unexpected bills, like car trouble or health problems. Once they finish those fun exercises, they complete the program by playing an interactive game, where they are challenged to use their new knowledge about finances. The students are dropped into a final scenario where they have just graduated high school, have a job, and must budget their income and expenses in order to save for college and win the game. Not every student gets the same unexpected challenges, so they are forced to make their decisions on their own.

Just like real-life, they are constantly tempted by impulse purchases and face the consequences of those actions. Students learn to handle rent, gas, groceries, taxes, car payments, and emergencies.

There are different courses available based on the age of the students. The courses chosen are based on the teachers' discretion.