With Tax Day approaching, many folks have money on their minds. So the Financial Literacy Department and Andersen Library are hosting a scavenger hunt dedicated to teaching students money smarts. 

The scavenger hunt opened a few days before the beginning of the month, and some students jumped at this head start. The event is available to students virtually through the GooseChase app throughout the month of April. 

“I participated in the scavenger hunt because I saw a post from the university on Facebook and thought it would be a fun activity to learn more about our campus and possibly learn something new about finances that college students go through,” says student Ryan McKee. “The most important thing that I learned from these small tasks that you have to complete are locations of different resources that every student here at Whitewater can use. Also, one of the activities that you can do shows different ways that people might try to scam someone, which is important for our age group to know since we are a high-risk target for scammers. Students should pay attention to their finances because one way or another you will run into an issue in your life, and you need to have a backup fund and know how to get out of the issue in the quickest way possible. Overall, being able to manage money well at a young age will help anyone in the future.” 

In previous years, Financial Services and the library held a similar event in person called GeoCache for College Cash. This year’s hunt contains 25 questions and the more questions answered gives participants more drawings for possible prizes.  

“The main goal is for students to have fun while learning something about how to manage their money and be entered in the drawings for lots of great prizes, of course,” says business reference librarian Naomi Schemm. “I hope students learn that taking control of their finances doesn’t have to be scary, and anyone can learn the basics. We have lots of campus resources to help. We tried to create the questions so they’re a good mixture of money smarts for today and money smarts for the future. In the questions, you could be learning about free financial resources or assistance available to you right now as a UWW student. It also provides tools that could help set you up for a great first job, like interviewing skills and a salary calculator or teach about practices now that can help set you up for a better future like a good credit score.”  

The scavenger hunt is a part of a larger program provided by the Financial Literacy Department under the name Money Smart. The program also introduced various speakers throughout the semester.  

“Money Smart is a national initiative of the American Library Association and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, to help spread financial information in communities. This year, Financial Services specialists Jamie Busse and Linda Ewert have planned the scavenger hunt with me, plus the student organization Financial Management Association (FMA) co-hosted the speakers,” says Schemm.  

Not only is the information gathered through the participation of the event valuable, according to Schemm, but the prizes are as well. Completing questions can give students access to drawings for prizes valued at up to $300.  

The scavenger hunt is open until the end of the month and can be accessed through the GooseChase app with the access code KKQXGE. Get money smart and get hunting!