United Way of Central Kansas is bringing Reality U back to Great Bend Middle School for the sixth year on Oct. 13. With the support of numerous sponsors and the Great Bend Middle School Booster Club, UWCK is setting out to teach this year’s eighth graders about personal finance in a fun and engaging way.
"The aim of Reality U is to show the kids what they could potentially be looking at for their future," said UWCK Director Charell Owings. "Financial literacy is something that has become more and more important in the school system over the last few years, so we really feel like we got lucky with this program. The community just finds it so engaging."
These lucky eighth graders will imagine their life as a 26-year old and complete an online lifestyle survey which includes questions about their occupation, marital status, use of credit cards, and their current grade-point average. This information is entered into a trademarked software program that links their answers to a unique scenario that is individualized for each student. These scenarios are distributed to them the day of the event.
Each scenario includes the student’s monthly income, credit card debt, student loan information, as well as marital and family status. The students are to transfer this information into their student passport, which similar to a checkbook register, and then make purchases at the 12 booths that represent services and/or products that adults typically must purchase or consider each month.
These booths include purchasing a car, renting or buying a home, utilities, insurance, phone and fun, retirement and loan repayment, childcare, clothing, and groceries. All the necessities in life to run a household.
Students have the opportunity to learn how their decisions impact their bottom line as they try to make decisions that won’t result in their check register falling below zero. Sometimes they must return a “purchase” and make a different decision. This event actively engages the students to help them understand the importance of education to their financial future. It also engages the community in supporting financial literacy for these students.
Throughout the day, students also go into breakout sessions to dive deeper into how the choices they make now will impact their future. These sessions include: The Cost of Delinquency with Juvenile Services, The Reality of High School with GBHS Counselors, The Reality After High School with Davis Jimenez, College Headstart with Barton Community College, Youth Crew with Tyler Morton, and Preparing for the Job Market with Great Bend High School JAG-K.
Owings said the vast majority of kids walk away from the program glad to have participated. They also have a new understanding of what it takes to raise a child.
"Kids are expensive, and they do need to take that into consideration as they make their future plans," she said. "It helps them to go home and thank their parents for all that they do for them."
This event takes more than 50 volunteers to put on and the Great Bend Middle School Booster Club generously provides lunch for these volunteers.
This event would not be possible without the support of our sponsors; Buckle, City of Great Bend, Credit Union of America, Equity Bank, Farmers Bank & Trust, First Kansas Bank, Marmie Auto Group, MPIRE Realty Group, Nex-Tech Wireless, Spectrum CPA Partners, LLC, and University of Kansas Health Systems-Great Bend. UWCK Community Partner, Great Bend Children’s Learning Center will be working the Childcare booth in addition to our sponsors. USD 428 staff do a great deal of work in the lead up to this event to ensure that it runs smoothly and that the students fully grasp the lessons that are taught through this simulation.