Hundreds of students from Vanier, Peacock, Central, and more descended upon the gymnasium at Sask Polytech Moose Jaw yesterday for Reality Check — a Chamber of Commerce-organized event that gives Grade 9s an idea of the financial realities of adult life.
Upon arrival, each student received a card outlining their situations for the day. Each student became a 25-year-old with a family, including single parents with one child, two parents with one child, or two parents with two children. They were assigned pre-determined salaries and relevant spousal incomes and visited volunteer-staffed booths to figure out how to spend that money.
Booths/tables included:
- Utilities
- Family Insurance
- Groceries
- Childcare
- Beauty
- Chance
- Charity
- Recreation/Leisure
- Furniture
- Communications
- Clothing
“For the most part, I would say a lot of the kids got really involved,” said Darby Fiddler with the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce, who helped organize the volunteers.
“We had a couple of them actually name their theoretical chldren,” she laughed. “We had a lot of questions asking if they could get rid of their children, because of how much money they cost, so I think just the realization of how much life really does cost for their parents was a big thing.
“It’s a great event, we do it every year, we’re always looking for volunteers, so feel free to reach out and come help.”
Vicky Vanghel from Golden West Broadcasting volunteered at the Communications table, helping students figure out things like a Netflix subscription, cable packages, cell phone bills, and other options.
“There were a lot of kids that did not choose cable,” Vanghel noted. “For sure, a cell phone is kind of essential in this day and age, so we spent time trying to figure out which one suited their budget the best. They were all OK with doing what they needed to do to make sure they didn’t overspend.
“So, if their thought was to get the cheapest package, but go to a cafe that had Wi-Fi, then that’s what they would choose to do vs overspending. ... I wish I had this growing up, it’s an eye-opener to what it all entails to be an adult.”
Jeff Feeley is a Career Development Consultant with Prairie South School Division. He said events like Reality Check are a great way to help students understand financial literacy. He added that it was great to see so many volunteers from various businesses and organizations in Moose Jaw coming out to help.
“I know there’s financial literacy classes now that are mandatory for students, but I think this event is for kids to get something a little bit different than what they might get in class,” he said.
Feeley was at the Housing table for a while, then the Transportation table, and noted those two areas in particular drew a lot of students back to re-evaluate spending choices. Similar to the other interviewees Discover Moose Jaw spoke with, Feeley couldn’t help but reflect on his own education — he praised the organizers for putting together such a comprehensive opportunity.
“We didn’t have any (formal financial literacy education) to speak of,” he said. “I can’t think of anything we did that would be remotely close to this, so I think it’s great.”
Tony Dreger, director of Small Business Ventures at HK Henderson Insurance, has been volunteering at Reality Check for several years. He said he’s noticed an uptick in how ready and informed students are when they get to the event.
“This has been a few years now they’ve been doing this and just getting to improve a little bit each year, and I think the kids do learn a lot and learn how expensive it is to raise a family and, you know, just day-to-day living expenses.
“Hopefully our kids growing up can continue this program and have this so that they can understand how much things cost and be as prepared as possible to head out on their own.”