Students at North Davie Middle School got a crash course on real-world finances recently, as the school and the N.C. State Employees’ Credit Union (NCSECU) teamed up for the “Reality of Money” program.
The program offered students an opportunity to work through the challenges of balancing incomes, family needs, bills and more by giving them an occupation, income, credit score, family status and number and more and asking them to work through stations where they had to make “tough real life decisions,” said Timmy Allen, the finance teacher at the middle school.
“It’s been really interesting to see their wheels turning,” said Allen. “Some of them think money grows on trees and don’t realize the sacrifices parents have to make.”
Jordan Sebastian, lead member services officer for the Clemmons NCSECU branch, said that students rotated through stations including groceries, phone bills, childcare expenses, clothing, housing and more to learn about the intricacies of budgeting. For anyone who runs out of money, there was a help station, where students could get part-time jobs or learn about assistance available for single parents or other statuses.
“I think it’s very important to get into the school and teach this kind of thing. When I was in school, they didn’t really teach this, you kind of just had to figure it out by yourself. It is important, and I think, too, that as teenagers, kids, they don’t necessarily realize — they can think money grows on trees, it’s just there. … I think this gives them a very little view of, ‘oh, wait, that’s why mom and dad are talking about money all the time because it is expensive and there’s a lot of things that you have to spend it on.’”
Both Allen and Sebastian said that the response from the students was a positive one, with Sebastian saying that many of the students had an “eye-opening” experience.
North Davie Middle School Principal Bryant Copeland said that he enjoyed hearing the students work through the problems, saying that he loved comments reflecting real-world learning experiences, such as students realizing that they may need a worse cell phone to make certain living expenses possible or how some clothing expenses may not be necessary or possible.
“They’re skills that are needed in the future that may not be directly taught sometimes. This puts real life in your hands,” said Copeland.
Source: ourdavie.com
