Toll Gate students learn what ‘real’ life costs

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 3/12/15

Toll Gate students took baby steps into the real world Tuesday morning during the 4th Annual CU 4 Reality Financial Education Fair.

Toll Gate High School’s Business Education department …

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Toll Gate students learn what ‘real’ life costs

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Toll Gate students took baby steps into the real world Tuesday morning during the 4th Annual CU 4 Reality Financial Education Fair.

Toll Gate High School’s Business Education department partnered with Wave Federal Credit Union, having Wave representatives visit the personal finance classes once a month throughout the school year making presentations on financial literacy.

On Tuesday, in a culmination of the partnership, 100 students joined at the Airport Radisson to participate in a budgeting simulation with various businesses holding booths to talk to students about their financial decisions.

Before the event, every student researched the career they are considering, finding out how much education they would need, and the base income for that job. Then, using that amount, students walked from booth to booth making financial choices. Students had a wide range of occupations, from morticians and musicians and even working demolition in the Marine Corps.

Laurie Mockler, personal finance teacher for all the students at the fair, said that the fair tries to keep things as “real world” as possible. Students have to consider student loans and how much they pay each month. They have to find someplace to live and if they can’t afford to live alone they need to find a roommate.

She said, “The students really take this seriously because for most of them they are looking into their future careers and learning to live within those means. They are planning their financial lives today. The money may be fictional, but the skills they learn today are essential.”

Ken Castellone, Department chair for Business Education, said that the fair gives the students a “realistic view of independence.” Many of the students still live with their parents and financial decisions are made for them. He said there are a lot of basic needs like water or services like Wi-Fi that students don’t realize cost money.

“They have to live in real life budgets,” Castellone said. “They have to talk to real people, strangers that are representing their businesses, much like they would have to in the real world and make decisions. They think independence is still a long way away, but it’s right around the corner for these students. It’s really a wake-up call.”

Paul Archumbault, president and CEO of Wave Federal Credit Union, said many of the students by the end of the day wouldn’t have enough money. They would need to take out a loan, go back to school or even take up a part-time job to come up with a balanced budget.

He said, “This usually brings a little sense of reality for these kids. Some kids will get it and see that this is what they will have to do every day at some point and take it really seriously.”

Wave has partnered with Toll Gate for the last four years, a relationship both find beneficial.

Archumbault said it is a way to give back to the community by helping a generation become financially literate during these economically difficult times. On the Toll Gate side, the fair helps reconfirm everything the students are learning in the classroom.

Mockler said, “It’s not just what Mrs. Mockler says anymore, they get to see the real world applications. Its hard, it’s really hard to live in real world figures and life is frustrating when in debt. Hopefully, the students see how important it is to budget.”

There were booths for more than just houses and cars; there were what Archumbault calls, “distractions.” Best Buy, pet stores, salons among other services were some of the almost 20 businesses represented at the event.

Archumbault said they suggest students go to the necessities first, but there are always some who really want a dog or want to purchase a TV and cable for their fictional homes.

Erica Drowne, one of the students participating in the fair as a veterinarian technician making $21,030 a year, said making decisions on what you can and cannot buy was the hardest part of the budgeting exercise. Drowne found that because she was living alone with a monthly payment she wasn’t able to make “purchases” at some of the booths.

She said, “This is important. It’s helped me realize that I need to plan better. I can’t have everything I want.”

Students also were required to spin the “Wheel of Reality,” a spinner with various options from having to pay for a $100 speeding ticket or $250 to fix a laptop with a virus, and some happier ones like a $300 bonus. This was supposed to simulate the unforeseen costs of budgeting, and if students ended up having to pay they had to hope they had enough in their budget or they would have to rework it.

General Treasurer Seth Magaziner spoke about how important it was to start saving now. He said that saving is the most important part of budgeting and he hoped the students would remember that not only for the exercise but also for the rest of their lives.

He said, “Savings help us get through the difficult times, for emergencies. You never know what could happen, but savings also plays an important role over time for those costlier purchases, like cars and houses; college is expensive.”

He commended not only Wave but also Toll Gate for their commitment to financial literacy and helping to educate the next generation, preparing them for the difficult financial decisions they will have to make as adults.

Magaziner said, “Americans don’t save enough. Twenty years ago Americans were saving upwards of 20 percent of every check they received and with our economy in this country that just isn’t happening anymore.”

David Weinberg, a member of Integrated Financial Partners manning one of the booths for financial planning – a booth students were quickly flocking to – was giving students similar advice throughout the event.

“The advice I’ve been giving the kids is the earlier you put away money the less you have to put away,” Weinberg said.

Both Superintendent Richard D’Agostino and Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz stressed how important the skills they would learn that day would follow the students for the rest of their lives. D’Agostino said he hopes the program continues and cautioned the students to be frugal with their money.

He said, “It is hard to make ends meet. You need to get the best bang for your buck.”

The project will continue throughout the school year. Mockler said that in her classes the students, keeping in mind the careers they were using, the budgets they created and the mortgages they are working on later this school year and make a final power point about their fictional financial lives.

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