Financial literacy program an eye-opener for area eighth-graders
With more than a dozen stations featuring everything from auto insurance to groceries and good time expenses, community professionals brought their knowledge to the table during Real Money, Real World to offer advice and help students navigate the world of budgeting.
Adult life is challenging, but with a little bit of foresight and money management, it gets a lot easier.
That is the message of Real Money, Real World, a financial literacy program presented to Hiland and West Holmes eighth grade students through the OSU Extension of Coshocton County. The program features hands-on experiences about the cost of living, making decisions and evaluating those decisions.
Real Money, Real World was hosted at both schools this fall, and the outcome was a valuable life lesson for the youth.
Event host Kate Shumaker, educator with Ohio State University Extension Holmes County, said every station was designed to be a realistic example of the hidden expenses that lurk in real life, from auto insurance to entertainment, groceries and utility bills, child care and more.
“I’ve been involved with this program for close to 20 years, and it continues to be a valuable tool for these eighth-graders,” Shumaker said. “It’s a very big eye-opener for these students. We hope they all go home and say thank you to their parents after recognizing how expensive things are and how much it takes to survive in the world today.”
She said the hope is this experience pushes kids to ask questions with parents, adults and even among one another as they think about furthering their education or moving into the workforce.
“There’s a lot to think about when you want to fulfill your dreams and pursue the lifestyle you want,” Shumaker said. “It’s good to gain some experience like this to create a plan at a younger age.”
Shumaker said by giving each student a random job and a random number of children, every student has an equal opportunity to experience the economic pitfalls when designing their life as they stop by each of the life stations.
For those students who picked low-paying jobs with three kids, the task of coming out ahead financially at the end of a budgeted month was challenging.
Student Megan Troyer found herself at one of those low-paying jobs with three children and had to finagle some things around and take on an extra cleaning job to make ends meet.
She was elated to finally find a way to survive and ended up being able to put away a few dollars each month into savings.
“I initially ended up in debt,” she said. “It was very frustrating because it felt like I couldn’t do anything about it. But after a while, I finally made it all work. I learned that you can’t ever give up and you need to try every possible way to figure things out.”
Student Alexis Mishler said she got a good job, but regardless, one thing stuck out in her mind.
“You need to spend your money wisely because there are a lot of hidden expenses out there,” Mishler said. “And also, picking a better-quality option that lasts longer may be the better option in the long run.”
She said the event was valuable, especially learning more about all the different types of insurance.
Mark Hamsher, Hiland dean of students, said watching the students react to the various challenges was interesting, and seeing the actual joy on their faces when they found a way to come out ahead of the game was sometimes amusing.
“I had two boys in the first session who came up to me afterward and said, ‘I’m just living in my parents’ basement,’” Hamsher said. “I told them, ‘No, didn’t you just learn how expensive kids are today? They don’t want you there.’ But seriously, this is such a great thing for these kids to experience. There’s so much here that they never thought about before when it comes to earning their way in life, and hopefully, once it’s over, they have gained some valuable insight into what it takes to be successful.”
Volunteer Timothy Schlabach of Hummel Insurance was leading students through the task of auto insurance. He said Hummel always enjoys having its employees partake in community events that educate young people.
“I remember doing this when I was in middle school, and it made a lasting impression,” Schlabach said. “It was hard to budget not knowing much about it, but it’s a great tool to help kids gain some insight into a lot of things they don’t know anything about. They’ve got some time, but adulthood will be here before they know it.”
Shumaker said she was grateful to the many community volunteers who shared their knowledge and skills in their respective stations.
“We’ve got a wonderful community committed to giving their own time and effort into providing this valuable event,” Shumaker said. “We want this to be an example of life. And if they didn’t get what you wanted, how can they change things and how can they get there to make their vision possible?”
Vision leads to success, and success in life is the foundation on which this event is based. Making smart financial decisions is one important factor in accomplishing that in life.
After this opening round, Real Money made its way to West Holmes Middle School to do it all again, with a new host of community volunteers set to introduce eighth-graders to the world of finance and budgeting.