Store provides dose of “Reality” for students

Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Daily News

Fri, May 16 2008

— Many young children may have little or no idea about what it really means to be responsible with money. To remedy that situation, the Greensburg Optimist Club held a “Reality Store” in which students engaged in mock financial transactions.
Sixth grade students from Greensburg Junior High School and St. Mary’s Catholic School attended the Reality Store Wednesday and were given a dose of, as the name implies, reality.
According to event organizer Jill Clift, the goal of the exercise is to teach the children the concept of money. She arranged for the store to have local businesses attend and run the booths and was involved with coordinating the trips to the Greensburg Community Learning Center, where the event was held. This year’s Store was handed off to the Optimist Club after having been brought together in previous years by Greensburg’s Working Women Association.
“The Reality Store really does teach kids the concepts of money,” Clift explained. “The kids will get home and tell their parents that they didn’t know their parents had to pay for that. It really does help.”
As the students made their way from booth to booth, they garnered a job, a spouse and children. According to Clift, the students may go through the program a few times, usually once with a high-income career and another with less starting money.
The students began with a stop at the bank booth, then proceeded to other booths to get homes, a car, insurance, utilities and student loans if the job given required college. The following booths included amenities such as electronics, trips, entertainment and furniture.
Twelve-year-old St. Mary’s student Hannah Sallee excitedly entered the Learning Center’s large multipurpose room as her classmates clutching calculators filed into the room. Sallee was given the occupation of dentist, which provided her with more starting cash then many of her classmates. Her first stop was at the bank booth, where she collected $750 for being married and gathered information on putting some of her money into a savings account.
She then moved on to purchase a home, where she came away with a nice three bedroom and two bath home for only $1,081. An automobile was next on her agenda.
“I got this Ford pickup truck for just $570,” Sallee said. The numbers were brought down to keep things simple, but they still allowed the students the opportunity to manage money.
When she purchased the truck, she knew she would need insurance. For just $101 she was able to buy home and car insurance. When it came time to purchase utilities, the steep price tag of $245 included water, electric and phone. Her student loans for the college that allowed her to become a dentist totaled more than $400. Sallee was able to pay her bills with money to spare.
After getting the necessities out of the way, she moved on to pay for furnishings and appliances for her and her husband’s home. Sallee was able to get away with a low price because she was not given children. Her next move was to purchase a pet, but without first paying for other necessary needs like groceries, she was not able to.
Sallee purchased the groceries, and then walked over to the “life’s unexpected” booth. Here, students would incur one of life’s many unexpected twists and turns by drawing the event out of a basket. Some events included getting a flat tire and requiring payment for towing, selling things on eBay for a high price, or having lightning strike the home. Sallee was lucky when she drew her number out of the basket, as she was given a 10 percent raise on her salary.
After she paid for clothes and electronics, Sallee encountered a small bump in her finances. She went to the counseling booth that offered financial advice, and after setting her checkbook straight, she was back on track.
Many students had to take on second jobs after being told by the financial counselors that their money resources were drying up.
The next stops on Sallee’s financial journey included dropping by electronics, entertainment, and beauty booths. After purchasing some items there, she stopped by the church and charity booth, where she volunteered to be a little league coach. She purchased a YMCA membership for herself and her spouse after purchasing medical insurance.
Finally, Sallee made it to the pet booth and bought a $26 cat. After one more quick stop to the counseling booth, she was finished. As she headed out, she offered some advice.
“Spend your money wisely,” she said.

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