Reality check: Hampton eighth-graders learn how to become savvy spenders, savers

When it came to deciding how to keep herself sufficiently entertained, Sonia Troiana had to choose between splurging and sticking to her budget.

“They were really trying to sell it to me,” the Hampton Middle School student said. “They were like, ‘Well, you’re going to be really lonely and have no friends if you don’t choose this.’”

Sonia and her fellow eighth-graders encountered such tactics during an appropriately named Reality Fair, with adult volunteers portraying salespeople for a variety of life’s necessities and extravagances at a series of themed tables set up in the school gymnasium.

The Oct. 17 event gave the teens a taste of what they eventually will face in terms of navigating their finances successfully.

“This is the culminating activity after the career awareness course that all of our eighth-graders will take,” Principal Marlynn Lux said. “The students research careers, and they also learn about taxes and insurance, and Medicare, Social Security and all of those things that come out of the gross monthly income.”

Prior to the Reality Fair, students participated in practice interviews for careers in which they have an interest. Later, they received job assignments with numbers representing corresponding first-year salaries.

“Then they actually calculated the net monthly income prior to walking into the fair,” Lux said.

Armed with budget spreadsheets based on those figures, the eighth-graders visited booths featuring mandatory expenditures —such as housing, transportation, insurance, clothing, food and, these days, cellphone — plus some further options, including pets; gym and fitness; and hair, nails and spa.

“They need to make decisions about what they would like to do that first year with their career,” their principal said. “I’m noticing that some of them are choosing to live with a roommate. Others are choosing to live on their own and getting a two-bedroom apartment.”

The Reality Fair represents the culmination of discussions by members of the district’s school board and administration. Particularly instrumental was Larry Vasko, the board’s finance chairperson, who volunteered at a fair booth “selling” vehicles to Sonia and her classmates.

It turned out that Sonia went with a practical decision:

“I got a little compact car, so the insurance wasn’t too much.”

Partnering with the district for the fair was Clearview Federal Credit Union, which provided budget counselors to review students’ spending plans as they wrapped up their rounds.

“Clearview’s vision is helping people to enjoy a better life. And starting young and getting that basis for financial education is very key to that,” Erin Forrester, the credit union’s director of public relations and community engagement, said as she commended the fair’s concept.

“It really is impactful, because it becomes that wants versus need. And they find out what they’re really able to afford, she said. “It really teaches them that, these are the things that go into buying a car. These are the things that go into your cellphone plan. It’s also teaching them to save.”

Forrester and Lux both complimented the 20 or so adults who contributed their talents to the fair.

“We couldn’t have done all of this without the help of all of our parent volunteers,” Lux said. “Many are working professionals giving up their time to be here.”

Overall, the principal was pleased with the scope of the educational opportunity.

“We were always trying to look for the best ways to infuse financial literacy into our curriculum,” she said. “And I just felt, as a middle school principal, it’s so important for our eighth-grade students, before going to high school, to have some taste of education in financial literacy and also putting it into an authentic experience.”