By Ashlee Mullis
The Patrick County Extension office recently hosted its annual Reality Store event. Both 10th and 12th grade students participated, with the help of a team of more than 70 volunteers. Reality Store is a finance-based simulation. It helps students see how their education, life choices, and finances are inter-related and impact their future. Students receive both a career and a family situation, and attempt to make their take-home pay cover all their bills and expenses for one month.
“Our office has been hosting this event for high schoolers for many years. It has grown and evolved over time, and continues to be meaningful for students. One aspect that has changed is our ability to personalize the event more for students,” said Terri Alt, Unit Coordinator and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent. “Seniors fill out a questionnaire at the beginning of the school year, and tell us their future educational plans as well as a few careers they are interested in. We match them up with one of those careers as they go through this simulation, which allows them to really get an idea if they like the lifestyle that career will afford them. “
Student feedback is always interesting.
“They will always tell us they had no idea how much everything costs. They are most surprised how expensive it is to have children and usually plan to put that decision off for a while until they are more established in their careers. That is a very good lesson to have learned,” Alt said.
The Extension Office has recently begun presenting an elementary version of Reality Store are various elementary schools, hosted by 4-H agent Leigh Ann Hazelwood.
Hazelwood has hosted a “few Kids’ Marketplace events in the past year. This elementary-based finance simulation gets younger kids thinking about money and spending. Establishing good finance habits at a young age will benefit kids as they grow older and start making choices with their money,” Alt said.
