Cashcapades is a competition that envisions the integration of Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship education to different competition segments focused on Grade 4 & Grade 5 students. It is divided into various segments, which cover the topic: Earn, Save, Spend, and Donate. Cashcapades was formed in order to apply what the students learned from the Cha-Ching Curriculum and to bring out their skills and talents in creativity and critical thinking skills. Registration started in the 1st week of June 2022 and the culmination was held in the 3rd week of July 2022. The culmination was a 2-day event where Quiz Bee and IMB presentation was held on Day 1 and the Awarding Ceremony was held on Day 2. The students have to give their best shots as they join the five competition segments: Alkansya Challenge, Kiddopreneur/It’s My Business, Poster Making, Essay Writing, and Quiz Bee.

First, the Alkansya Challenge is a segment that intends to provide students the opportunity to express their creative sides while simultaneously motivating them to save money. and has two categories: Money Box, which showcases the creativity of the students by creating and designing their own money boxes, as well as, the essence of embodying Cha-Ching’s savings component through their accomplished savings plan. The other category is the Bank Account with the goal of building a long-term habit for saving through a bank deposit challenge, wherein the students are challenged to create their own Kids Bank Account, deposit their money and take advantage of the power of compounding interest.

Second is the Kiddopreneur/It’s My Business (IMB) Segment. This segment focuses on training the participants on entrepreneurship and business planning. In this segment, students are challenged to maximize PHP5,000 and produce a livelihood project out of it. The IMB segment also showcases the practices of the entrepreneur kids and aims to be an inspiration to the students with the importance of acquiring the skill of entrepreneurship.

Next is the Poster Making segment. This segment aims to give the students to use their

knowledge, understanding and awareness in connection to financial literacy in creating their creative visuals. Poster making has two categories: Digital Art which challenges the learners creativity and expertise when it comes to utilizing digital designing tools, and Traditional Art, which challenges the learners creativity and expertise on traditional art mediums.

The fourth one would be the Essay Writing Segment. This is a segment that gives the students the opportunity to demonstrate their reading, thinking and writing skills in relation to financial literacy in a well connected and compact manner. It also urges the learners to master the skill of written communication by making them create an essay entry with the theme: “Responsible Spender As A Student.”

Lastly, there is the Quiz Bee Segment, which focuses on all four concepts, Earn-Save-Spend-Donate. This segment will test the students’ knowledge on Cha-Ching characters and their adventures in running a band and forming healthy money habits along the way. This also aims to re-orient the students on their knowledge about financial literacy and entrepreneurship education through a quiz bee.

2022 is the pilot year of the program, and to set the pace for our students, JA PH partnered with Department of Education Bicol Region, Division of Negros Occidental, Division of Cabanatuan, Division of Laoag, and Division of Muntinlupa to kickstart the program. It was a long shot but with the support of DepEd partners, Cha-Ching advocates, teachers, parents, and students, JA PH were able to get more than 1,200 entries for all five segments for its very first year.

”Thank you so much po for this remarkable event. This event is very excellent and helpful especially in financial literacy and sustainability. It was a great experience to join this competition. Thanks for this learning opportunity not only for the students as well as for us teachers/advisers. Hope to attend more events like this in the future.” – a coach of the participating students said in the Culmination Day 1 of the event.

“At first I got nervous because it was live but my thoughts were wrong, it’s actually fun and the prizes don’t matter, what matters is having fun. It is a great program, very interactive and encouraging! The program makes me discover my talent in poster making. It gives us motivation and develops the learners talents and skills. May your organization continue to educate and inspire our youth.” – a student present once said in the Awarding ceremony in the Culmination Day 2 of the event.

Cha-Ching was once a small program idealized by a few people but with the participation of the Filipino youth, it has become JA’s biggest youth development program for elementary kids with numerous initiatives, one of which is Cashcapades. With the leap of faith of our DepEd partners and Cha-Ching advocates, the children can have a head start to the game of financial literacy.

The ball is now on your court. If you want to be involved in this event in the succeeding years, this is your chance. Put your game-face on, and make the first move in learning financial literacy through a lively competition by joining Cashcapades! If you want to be part of the Cha-Ching Community of Advocates, do not hesitate to reach out to us through Ms. Paula Patrice Dela Cruz (coordinator2@japionline.org) and be an advocate of financial literacy today!