Four Nansemond River High School students have spent part of spring break looking at life through the lenses of 60-year-old retirees suddenly tasked with raising their grandchildren.

The students — senior Tala Hughes, juniors Khadijah Person and Brenden Gunville and sophomore Jackie Hale — are on Nansemond River’s team tapped to participate in The Governor’s Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance on April 14.

Fourteen teams won opportunities to participate in the statewide competition, teacher Jason Bartholomew said.

For the contest, students have been given a financial case study to solve: What changes will the newly retired couple have to make in order to care for their two grandchildren, something they had not planned for financially?

Everything is on the table when it comes to looking at the best options for their fictitious couple’s dilemma, students said. First, they will look at the data, including assets and net worth. The students will then begin brainstorming for viable solutions, looking at different ways the couple could meet their new financial needs.

“We will have to consider all the different factors at once and look at the ramifications of each action,” said Hughes, who plans to study economics in college.

“I enjoy the challenge,” Gunville added. “It is making me think.”

Their personal finance class, which is now mandatory for high school students in Virginia to pass before graduating, has helped the Nansemond River students develop the knowledge and skills needed for the competition, Bartholomew said. The case study gives them a chance to apply skills learned in class to real-life scenarios, he said.

Students will travel to Virginia Commonwealth University to present their case-study plan to a team of judges who are professionals in the finance industry, he said.

Nansemond River also had a team qualify for the competition last year, Bartholomew added.