"Test drive" financial program simulates real life for students - FINANCIAL-24
Nearly 300 EPHS seniors participated in a new financial program, "Test Drive ... Next Stop Reality" on Jan. 12 at the high school. The exercise tested their financial literacy in situations such as deciding on the best child-care option and whether they should get another part-time job.
"It's been one of the best opportunities I've been given through an economic standpoint. It really gives you a clear picture of it in hands-on work where a textbook can't provide us with that same information," said senior Emma Niederluecke. "It's really personalized to yourself and you actually get to make the decisions. It's not just numbers being given to you."
The "Test Drive" program was created by Royal Credit Union, the financial institution that partnered with Eden Prairie High School to open "The Perch," a school-based credit union branch in 2015. Royal Credit Union began working on the program in 2015 and it was piloted in March 2017 in Barron County, Wis. More than 300 students in eight high schools participated in the event, said Jennifer McHugh, credit union director of public affairs and financial education.
The event at Eden Prairie High School was the second time Royal has offered the program.
"We believe it teaches students valuable life lessons. There are some reality fair 'kits' you can purchase, but we wanted to develop our own program so that the prices the students are using are local and indicative of the area they live. We worked with Eden Prairie businesses to create the prices for categories like transportation, housing and daycare," she explained.
The program at EPHS was partially funded through a $600 Minnesota Credit Union Foundation grant, used to purchase calculators that were used by volunteers and students, McHugh said.
Shelly Streich, EPHS business and marketing teacher, helped facilitate the program at the high school. She said she first learned about Test Drive last year when she and a student went to the Wisconsin event. She had heard of it through her work with the in-school credit union branch.
"We knew it was something that would be beneficial for our students at Eden Prairie High School," she said.
The Eden Prairie seniors who participated came from Economic and Public Policy and AP Macro Economics classes. The business and marketing department partnered with the social studies department because more seniors from those required courses would be able to participate.
Meggie O'Keefe, a social studies teacher, said classes did some prep work and lessons prior to the Jan. 12 event. One lesson involved students researching any career they wanted, the cost of the education to pursue that career and the expected salary they would earn. The net monthly income was calculated. Students were also assigned a "life status" card that detailed whether they were married or single and if they had children. If they had a spouse, that spouse also had a monthly income.
The second lesson included teaching students how to write checks and record their transactions in a checkbook ledger. Although some students already had some experience with checking accounts, some didn't know how to write a check, which didn't surprise O'Keefe, she said.
The Jan. 12 event was a "reality fair" where students, equipped with a checkbook, ledger, a pretend debit card and a clipboard, were required to visit more than 10 stations. The simulation was meant to represent a snapshot of one month's spending. EPHS plans to do the program again in May to include more seniors, according to McHugh.
The stations, staffed by more than 75 volunteers, allowed students to pay utility bills, choose a child-care option, buy a car, decide whether to rent or buy a home, and make decisions about other items including pets, entertainment, groceries, clothing, health and beauty products, insurance (health, vision, dental and car), donating to charity and volunteering.
One station, "Speed Bumps and Detours," had students spin a wheel to randomly draw an unplanned positive or negative event, such as earning $100 by selling items on Craigslist or shelling out $200 to replace a computer hard drive that died. A "GPS/Recalculate" station allowed students to have their finances evaluated by volunteers to see where they should make changes in their spending.
Eden Prairie Police school liaison officers even handed out tickets for good deeds (that earned students extra money) or fined students for infractions such as loitering or littering.
"It is kind of more of a sophisticated version of the Game of Life," O'Keefe said of the fair.
Niederluecke and senior Bailey DeMets were among the students to go through the fair on Friday morning with different life situations. DeMets ended up being a single dad with a 1-year-old, starting off his month with a net salary of about $3,955 as an investment banking analyst. Niederluecke was married with a 4-year-old daughter. She had a net salary of about $5,000 as a marketing manager while her husband made just under $2,000 as a janitor.
Their journey of spending their monthly income took them both about three hours to complete.
Along the way, DeMets ended up getting another part-time job as a pizza delivery driver and picked up two different shifts during the month. He also went back and switched from a more expensive day-care option to a cheaper one, was fined $25 for loitering; found $20 and had to pay $200 to fix his computer hard drive. His final net income was about $5,183 and he had $167.68 left after paying for all of his expenses. After visiting his first four sessions, DeMets commented that his money "diminished quickly."
"It kind of opened my eyes to be realistic in your payments and in the way you live your life," he said after completing the fair. "It adds up quickly. I think that's what this event kind of prepares us for and kind of sets us on the right path of going to college."
Niederluecke had a different experience. While she opted to pick up a part-time job as an accounting clerk, she said she did so to have more room in her income to be able to afford more expensive cell phone phone, Internet and TV packages and entertainment. She was also fined $25 for loitering, earned $100 by selling items online and had to pay $25 to fix her lawnmower. With the job the final monthly income (including her spouse's) was about $7,300.
Niederluecke said items like child care opened her eyes because she hadn't considered those types of expenses before. She was also surprised by entertainment costs.
"I hope it's something they continue to do in the future. I think it's something that should definitely stay in the curriculum," she said of the program.
O'Keefe said she's heard that the program has been a conversation-starter between parents and their children.
"I think if this event even changes how a few students make decisions about their future, it's well worth doing. This is one of those events that could be a life changer for somebody," she said.
"It's been one of the best opportunities I've been given through an economic standpoint. It really gives you a clear picture of it in hands-on work where a textbook can't provide us with that same information," said senior Emma Niederluecke. "It's really personalized to yourself and you actually get to make the decisions. It's not just numbers being given to you."
The "Test Drive" program was created by Royal Credit Union, the financial institution that partnered with Eden Prairie High School to open "The Perch," a school-based credit union branch in 2015. Royal Credit Union began working on the program in 2015 and it was piloted in March 2017 in Barron County, Wis. More than 300 students in eight high schools participated in the event, said Jennifer McHugh, credit union director of public affairs and financial education.The event at Eden Prairie High School was the second time Royal has offered the program.
"We believe it teaches students valuable life lessons. There are some reality fair 'kits' you can purchase, but we wanted to develop our own program so that the prices the students are using are local and indicative of the area they live. We worked with Eden Prairie businesses to create the prices for categories like transportation, housing and daycare," she explained.
The program at EPHS was partially funded through a $600 Minnesota Credit Union Foundation grant, used to purchase calculators that were used by volunteers and students, McHugh said.
Shelly Streich, EPHS business and marketing teacher, helped facilitate the program at the high school. She said she first learned about Test Drive last year when she and a student went to the Wisconsin event. She had heard of it through her work with the in-school credit union branch.
"We knew it was something that would be beneficial for our students at Eden Prairie High School," she said.
The Eden Prairie seniors who participated came from Economic and Public Policy and AP Macro Economics classes. The business and marketing department partnered with the social studies department because more seniors from those required courses would be able to participate.
Meggie O'Keefe, a social studies teacher, said classes did some prep work and lessons prior to the Jan. 12 event. One lesson involved students researching any career they wanted, the cost of the education to pursue that career and the expected salary they would earn. The net monthly income was calculated. Students were also assigned a "life status" card that detailed whether they were married or single and if they had children. If they had a spouse, that spouse also had a monthly income.
The second lesson included teaching students how to write checks and record their transactions in a checkbook ledger. Although some students already had some experience with checking accounts, some didn't know how to write a check, which didn't surprise O'Keefe, she said.The Jan. 12 event was a "reality fair" where students, equipped with a checkbook, ledger, a pretend debit card and a clipboard, were required to visit more than 10 stations. The simulation was meant to represent a snapshot of one month's spending. EPHS plans to do the program again in May to include more seniors, according to McHugh.
The stations, staffed by more than 75 volunteers, allowed students to pay utility bills, choose a child-care option, buy a car, decide whether to rent or buy a home, and make decisions about other items including pets, entertainment, groceries, clothing, health and beauty products, insurance (health, vision, dental and car), donating to charity and volunteering.
One station, "Speed Bumps and Detours," had students spin a wheel to randomly draw an unplanned positive or negative event, such as earning $100 by selling items on Craigslist or shelling out $200 to replace a computer hard drive that died. A "GPS/Recalculate" station allowed students to have their finances evaluated by volunteers to see where they should make changes in their spending.
Eden Prairie Police school liaison officers even handed out tickets for good deeds (that earned students extra money) or fined students for infractions such as loitering or littering.
"It is kind of more of a sophisticated version of the Game of Life," O'Keefe said of the fair.
Niederluecke and senior Bailey DeMets were among the students to go through the fair on Friday morning with different life situations. DeMets ended up being a single dad with a 1-year-old, starting off his month with a net salary of about $3,955 as an investment banking analyst. Niederluecke was married with a 4-year-old daughter. She had a net salary of about $5,000 as a marketing manager while her husband made just under $2,000 as a janitor.
Their journey of spending their monthly income took them both about three hours to complete.Along the way, DeMets ended up getting another part-time job as a pizza delivery driver and picked up two different shifts during the month. He also went back and switched from a more expensive day-care option to a cheaper one, was fined $25 for loitering; found $20 and had to pay $200 to fix his computer hard drive. His final net income was about $5,183 and he had $167.68 left after paying for all of his expenses. After visiting his first four sessions, DeMets commented that his money "diminished quickly."
"It kind of opened my eyes to be realistic in your payments and in the way you live your life," he said after completing the fair. "It adds up quickly. I think that's what this event kind of prepares us for and kind of sets us on the right path of going to college."
Niederluecke had a different experience. While she opted to pick up a part-time job as an accounting clerk, she said she did so to have more room in her income to be able to afford more expensive cell phone phone, Internet and TV packages and entertainment. She was also fined $25 for loitering, earned $100 by selling items online and had to pay $25 to fix her lawnmower. With the job the final monthly income (including her spouse's) was about $7,300.
Niederluecke said items like child care opened her eyes because she hadn't considered those types of expenses before. She was also surprised by entertainment costs.
"I hope it's something they continue to do in the future. I think it's something that should definitely stay in the curriculum," she said of the program.
O'Keefe said she's heard that the program has been a conversation-starter between parents and their children.
"I think if this event even changes how a few students make decisions about their future, it's well worth doing. This is one of those events that could be a life changer for somebody," she said.
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