Reality Fair

From the desk of Celia Tucker, Academic Counselor:

As part of our continuing efforts to prepare seniors for college and beyond, Brook Hill partnered recently with Kelly Community Federal Credit Union to sponsor a “Reality Fair” for our Brook Hill seniors, which is a financial literacy program designed to familiarize students with personal money management skills.

Seniors first met with Mrs. Michelle Small, Chief Executive Officer for the Kelly Community Federal Credit Union, and learned about ways to earn, save and spend money wisely. Through our Senior Seminar class, Mrs. Small provided direct instruction and interactive activities designed to simulate the “reality” of personal and family finance including budgeting tools and the importance of establishing and keeping a good credit score.

The Reality Fair culminated with a hands-on paper and pencil walk through for students, beginning with them being given an average starting salary for their chosen career and then having them make choices for housing, auto, utilities, insurance, food, etc. When all of their figures were down on paper, students sat with Credit Counselors to see if their pay checks were going to cover their chosen lifestyles. The desired result of the Reality Fair is to give our young adults the tools they need to enter into the workforce after college—to find out more about how their career and lifestyle choices are effected by economic realities.