Lyons Middle School hosted RealityU for our 8th graders and the sophomores again this year.
RealityU is a simulation that allows students to plan for their "26 year old life".
They make decisions and pay bills at various booths that simulate monthly expenses
on a budget for the career they choose.
The 8th graders had a full day with a presentation and 2 panel discussions prior to the simulation. The presentation was from Raechel Manley who shared the savings program with First Bank and Inter-Faith Housing that allows students to save money and the grant to match that money x2! The panels were made up of former Lyons students, Laura Maxwell, Julissa Cereceres, Molly Schultz, Jennifer Wood, and Rassan Hines, discussing their education and career paths, and Lyons Board of Education members, George M. Stover and Kendra Grizzle, discussing their experiences with Lyons schools and their goals for our students.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the evening 8th graders took their parents around to the booths and explained the choices they made during the simulation.
|
|
|
Community volunteers helped run the booths: (Nathan Steele, Carey Steele, Yvonna Nave, Ben Timberlake, Dustin Schultz, Mandi Beaver, Karla Rivera, Karla Robinson Peter, Joel Grizzle, Verle Carlson, Sheryl Carlson, Kathy Gomez, Matt Stafford, Caleb Barrows, Ian Geeves, John Wempe, [Chelsea Bieberle, Raechel Manley, Jennifer Wood, Molly Schultz, Susan Griffin and Heidi Mccullers.
The program costs about $3000 to put on. Donations from the community were from Lyons Federal Bank, Black Diamond Contracting LLC (Dustin Schultz), Kansas Central Services (Brian Leiker), First Bank Sterling / Lyons / Chase, and Peoples Bank.
Senior helpers were:
Mia Bryant, Peyton Crawford, Nathan Douglas, Jon Gish
Solomon Goforth, Alexa Guzman, Olivia Hunt, Eli Martinez
Makenna Martinez, Erik Ordaz, Ethan Peterman, and Addison Silva
Reality U is a one-day financial literacy event – for students in high school and middle school – designed to help students understand some of the “realities” involved in preparing for an employable future and adulthood.
The goal is to learn about the correlation between fiscal well being, academic achievement, and financial literacy, all the while enabling students to understand some of the real life examples in preparing for future employment.
At Reality U, students are provided an adult scenario complete with marital status, number of children, occupation, and net monthly income. Students visit a variety of booths to “purchase” housing, transportation, communication services, child care, food, utilities, insurance, etc.
How Reality U Works
Reality U brings a bit of “reality” to students, teaching them about
personal finance in an interactive and engaging way.
Students imagine their life as a 26-year old and complete an online lifestyle survey, including questions about their occupation, marital status, use of credit cards, and their current grade point average. This information is entered into our trademarked software program that links their answers to a unique scenario that is individualized for each student. These scenarios are distributed to them on the day of the event.
Each scenario includes the student’s monthly income, credit card debt, student loan information, as well as marital and family status. The students are to transfer this information into their student passport and then make purchases at the twelve booths that represent services and/or products that adults typically must purchase or consider each month. (All products/services reflect current economic values of the area.)
Students have the opportunity to learn how their decisions impact their bottom line as they try to make decisions that won’t result in their check register falling below zero! Sometimes they must return a “purchase” and make a different decision. This event actively engages the students to help them understand the importance of education to their financial future. It also engages the community in supporting student learning and developing their understanding of the world of work
For more information, go to REALITY U