SANDPOINT — Want to make finance fun? Turn it into a game.
On Friday, hundreds of seniors from Sandpoint, Clark Fork and Lake Pend Oreille high schools visited North Summit Church to attend a symposium on preparing for financial success.
“Our high school seniors, they are hungry for this knowledge,” said Geralyn Mia, post-secondary transition counselor at SHS. “We want students to start learning financial literacy.”
The two-part expo began with students teaming up for a game show and quizzes on bank loans, credit scores, and the difference between debit and credit cards.
They then set out for the “real world,” a series of stations where students decide how much they want to spend on groceries, clothing, transportation, and other necessities.
Each student was given a mock identity with its own budget based on predetermined age, income, family structure, and occupation. Older people were forced to choose when to splurge and when to be frugal in order to get the most out of their money without going into debt.
In the housing station, SHS senior Brady Newhart (who is also an accountant in the simulation) chooses to spend his money on a large apartment with high-end furniture. That choice would limit his options for other necessities.
“We wanted the best,” Newhart said of the home purchase. “Now we have to work on everything that’s at the bottom.”
In this exercise, students not only learned about budgeting for their needs, but also about their wants. Seniors visited the stations to determine how much they wanted to spend on fun activities like skiing or a trip to Seattle, and what charities they wanted to support.
To increase realism, the simulation includes an element of luck. When creating a budget, students randomly drew cards that had a positive or negative impact on their savings. In some cases, seniors may learn that they received a tax return or bonus. Storm damage and unexpected car repair bills were more common. ”
“Normally money doesn’t fall out of the sky for us. Usually it’s an extra charge,” Mille said. “It gives them a sense of real life.”
The Finance Fair is a rare example of an educational exercise that is applicable to all students, regardless of their ultimate lifestyle or career.
No matter where you live, what your job is, or how much income you make, everyone has to make choices about how they spend their money throughout their adult lives. Incorporating life skills such as financial literacy into the curriculum is an important step in preparing all students for future success.
