Woodland High School Reality Store Day
Thursday, October 17
Woodland High Performing Arts Center
Reality Store is a program that helps to teach teenagers about real world expenses. The way it works is that each student does an interest inventory and selects a career they think they would like to pursue after high school. They research the career to determine the average monthly income. The day of the event they draw a hypothetical family situation which tells them whether or not they're married, single or divorced and whether or not they have kids. Then they have to visit a series of stations: housing, groceries, entertainment, life event, clothing, transportation, insurance, etc. At each station they have to make decisions about how they are going to spend their money.
The goal is for them to take care of the needs of their family without running out of money. We want them to realize how important it is to plan. We want them to see what effect education has on their earning potential, because the jobs with college education pay better. The size of their family and their choices of autos and homes in addition to income affect their living expense.
Volunteers are matched with their area of expertise and interest. If you are a real estate agent you would be great at the housing station. Bankers and financial volunteers work at our Banking and Financial Advisors stations. If you are in retail you might want to work at the Clothing or Furniture stations. All ninth grade students at Adairsville, Cass, and Woodland participate in this activity.
