Yukon High School held their annual Reality Check this week! During the event, freshman students are assigned a random annual income before traveling to booths like housing, clothing, insurance, and child care to make virtual payments from their budget.
Although they must visit every booth, they are empowered to make their own personal decisions. One ninth grader reflected, “I got $35,000 which I thought was really good, but now I’m down to $20 and still have bills...I may have gone a little crazy with the nice truck.” Once they’ve paid their bills, the students who have money leftover receive a KitKat, while those with $0 left in their bank account receive a Zero bar.
“This is an opportunity for the students to gain a deeper understanding of how their parents live on a day-to-day basis. It really puts things in perspective and gives them some real world experience and therefore, a better idea of what to expect in the future” said YHS teacher, Darryl Andrews.
To provide real insight, every booth is hosted by local volunteers from their correlating industries, i.e., auto salesman sell the cars, bank officials run the bank, child care providers discuss child care. The real estate agents working in the housing booth reflected, “We actually learn a lot from the students too! After volunteering for several years at this event, we’ve gotten to see firsthand how the students’ decision-making processes have changed over the years.”
