Area 8th Graders Get a Dose of Reality
Thursday, April 12th, 2018 -- 7:33 AM
(WDLB) -Area 8th graders got a dose of reality April 10, as they participated in the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry's "reality store".Over 300 students went to the Marshfield Middle School with a career assignment and family situation, and they met with business representatives and community volunteers to try balancing a household budget. Business instructor Dan Akin says this is the 14th year of the reality store program. The program is part of the 8th grade "Career Quest" curriculum. Noah Mandel of Columbus Catholic had a wife who made most of the household income, while he was a fast-food worker. And after buying a house, food and clothing, paying for utilities, two cars, the internet, health insurance and retirement planning, he came in under budget. Instructor Laura Hanna from Granton was helping her 8th graders manage their money--and thought it was a great lesson.
Hanna took 14 of her academic and career planning students to Tuesday's Reality Store event. Thousands of students have now gone through the reality store. Akin says it's a program that got its start in Spencer, which holds an annual Reality Store event in March. The event featured over a dozen local volunteers representing various vendors selling the necessities of life. Akin says the first students who went through the Marshfield program are now 28 years old.
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