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Greetings,
With only about one in three teens knowing how to read a bank statement, balance a checkbook, and pay bills, financial education is becoming increasingly important. Luckily, many students are learning about these real-life experiences from Reality Store events, created to help middle school students learn about the everyday financial challenges they'll face as adults.
Reality Store is an interactive financial literacy program geared toward eighth grade students. Each participant is assigned an education, occupation, and income at the beginning of the program. The student, by luck of the draw, determines their marital and family status. Armed with this information, the students make their way through stations around the room and begin to make tough financial decisions about life.
Students visit stations to pay taxes, open a checking account, buy or rent a house, pay a student loan, buy groceries, pay for health insurance, choose childcare, and buy clothes. At each station they use a budget sheet and a calculator to keep track of each expense and subtract it from that month's income.
This was the eighth year in a row that I had the opportunity to participate in the Reality Store hosted by the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the second year that I co-chaired the event in my role on the Family Education Concerns Committee. The event was held at Anwatin Middle School in Minneapolis.
This year we also held a parent event the night before. The event had great turnout and the parents who attended thought it was very valuable – they were thrilled to talk with so many people from different states, schools, and organizations about what they can do right now to prepare their child for a successful high school experience that will allow them to pursue their higher education dreams.
A parent whose son participated in the Reality Store wrote to say, "Thank you so much for the golden opportunity. My son loved the event and seems to have gotten a lot out of it. It sparked great conversation at our house about life choices in education, career, family life, and consequences of life events, social and financial responsibility, budgeting, and much more. My son was so excited and enthusiastic when he came home – we all benefitted from the experience."
Being a part of the Reality Store is one of the ways that I hope to help foster financial literacy among our students. Students who know how to make smart financial decisions are able to open more doors to build brighter futures for themselves.
Until next time,
La Toya Sykes, Director
Outreach and Access Awareness
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