“It’s really kind of just helping us learn for the future, since we’re graduating next year, most of us — how to budget our money since we’re going to be out in the real world by ourselves, and also incorporating your kids into that and stuff, if you plan on having any,” said senior Alisandra VanMeter. “We’re also kind of learning the difference of insurances, high deductible versus low deductible, stuff like that.”
Elida Middle School students learning some dollars and sense on Friday.
Learning about the costs of living opened the eyes of dozens of students as they found themselves with kids, debt, and a low-paying job for some. It was the "Real World—Real Money" event presented by the Ohio State University Extension Office and Superior Credit Union. It brings seniors from all over the region to see if they can make it after graduation. Making a budget and sticking to it was harder than they thought. They also found a new appreciation of what their parents had done for them while they were growing up.
Students at Donnell Middle School in Findlay got a little taste of the adult life thanks to a new statewide initiative called Real Money Real World. Treasurer Robert Sprague partnered with Ohio State to get the program widespread in schools across Ohio. How the program works is that each student was randomly assigned a fake life. It included what they did for a living, how many kids they had, and what their monthly income was. From there, they had to make financial decisions that included paying for insurance, transportation, groceries, and other bills that the typical adult would have to pay.
