💰🪙🏦 It makes “dollars and sense” to teach students about financial literacy, so BCS provides relevant courses that help prepare students for adulthood.
As part of Clyde A. Erwin High School’s Economics and Financial Literacy course, seniors visited the school’s Media Center, where 20 State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) bankers set up a simulation called “The Reality of Money.” Each student received a sheet that represented a person with a randomly selected financial situation – occupation, salary, education, credit score, marital status, and number of children. They visited tables with labels like “childcare,” “groceries,” “entertainment,” and “next payday.” At each table, SECU employees deducted some of the students’ income, explained the nuances of the cost category, and advised students how to become better prepared for the real thing. Staff also handed out “stuff happens” cards that laid out unexpected expenses and encouraged students to build their savings.
“It is great getting to teach a course with so much real-world application,” said Erwin Social Studies Department Chair Brian Gonzales. “If students pay attention in this course they can literally save and make thousands of dollars with the things we are showing them. It doesn't get any better than that!”
Attending seniors like Simon, Manarah, and Chris had lots of questions as they circled the roomful of tables.
“I was surprised with how much childcare costs, but I really enjoyed the experience overall,” Simon said. “I learned a lot, especially when it comes to managing money.”
Manarah said she noticed the “keeping up with the Joneses” effect and how damaging it can be to her bottom line.
“I felt this societal pressure to get a nicer car even though it wasn’t something I was necessarily interested in having,” she said. “My person was also married, and I felt like we should have two cars, but I think we could carpool or find a way to share one car.”
“At the end, I came out with $35,” Chris added with a laugh. “Things are really expensive, but I’m glad I got to do this. I learned a lot.”