JA Finance Park educates through simulation [VIDEO]
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Cami Nielsen, outreach manager for the Klamath County Library, guides a group of Ponderosa students through the budgeting process at the JA Finance Park.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – 600 High school and middle school students and volunteers from around the Klamath Basin visited the Junior Achievement Finance Park at the Klamath County Fairgrounds this week. Students participated in a simulation on personal finance, learning valuable live skills, and live within their means.
“We have students from Klamath Union High School and Ponderosa Middle School and they are experiencing a simulation about real adult life,” said Molly Edison from Junior Achievement. “Today, they all got entirely new life scenarios including their gross annual income, their credit score, any debt and savings, if they have a spouse, if they have kids, and they take that whole life scenario and see if they can go through a month of budgeting and shopping for all these different adult expenses and make ends meat within the means they have in this life scenario.”
Middle Schoolers Learn Money Management
by Anne Keyser, Klamath Falls City School District
It’s costlier to insure a sports car than an SUV. A credit card can raise a credit score but can lead to debt and interest charges. College graduates earn more than high school graduates over a lifetime.
These were among dozens of finance tips for the 200 Ponderosa Middle School eighth-graders who attended the eighth annual Junior Achievement (JA) Finance Park at the Klamath County Fairgrounds March 2 for a 4.5-hour simulation experience on personal finance.
Ponderosa’s students started the program by receiving randomly assigned adult personas, including age, marital status, number of children, income, educational background, credit score, debt, savings and more. Using iPads with software designed by JA, each calculated a net monthly income and created a monthly savings plan for retirement.
Next, they conducted research at 16 kiosks representing 20 budget expenses, from food and philanthropy, to education and electricity. With the guidance of trained volunteers, groups of students discussed essentials like health insurance and housing, as well as extras like travel and investments.
At a kiosk about home mortgages, they considered how income level and credit score affect a home loan application. When discussing the length of mortgages, one student guessed “one, maybe two years?” and was surprised to learn that 15 to 30 years is typical.
Ponderosa students learn how to save and invest at a JA Finance Park kiosk sponsored by U.S. Bank.
At a communications kiosk, a group of eight unanimously agreed that cable, internet and phone connections are “wants,” not “needs.”
At a clothing kiosk, students brainstormed how to limit clothing expenses. Suggestions included buying with “room to grow” or buying “off-brands.”
Next, bound by the constraints of their personas, students allocated dollars to every expense. Those with children budgeted for childcare. Those with spouses budgeted for two vehicles or public transportation. Everyone created line items for housing, food and other necessities.
Ponderosa students research home buying at a JA Finance Park kiosk sponsored by JAFP Realty.
The final step was online shopping and bill paying. It wasn’t easy.
“All of my money is gone, just like that!” said a student as she struggled to stretch her income.
“Welcome to adulthood,” joked Cami Nielsen, outreach manager for the Klamath County Library who has volunteered at the Finance Park for the past seven years.
“They are getting really good life skills,” said Nielsen. “With this information, these kids will be a lot more prepared than our generation was.”
Natalia Garcia budgeted and shopped for her family of four. Even with $4850 per month from her job as a comptroller, she was careful in the choices she made: a three-bedroom home with a $1144 monthly mortgage payment ($106 under budget) and a pickup truck for $217 monthly (leaving $103 for a bus pass for her spouse).
While Natalia came with significant financial knowledge from her older brother, her classmate Mia Dentinger faced sticker shock. Denied a home loan and working with $2300 monthly, she chose rental housing, a modest car and generics-only groceries.
“I can’t believe how expensive everything is,” said the single mother of one.
Mia’s reaction was typical, according to social studies teacher Stacia Hanson, who has attended JA’s Finance Park since its inception.
“This experience shows them how expensive kids are and how boring and hard it is to pay bills,” Hanson said. “But it also inspires them to consider what job they’ll need in order to afford what they want.”
Hanson noted that Ponderosa was the first school in the Basin to participate in the Finance Park and that the school also offers JA’s “It’s My Future” program to its sixth-graders and JA’s “Economics for Success” program to its seventh-graders.
In four years, Ponderosa’s eighth-graders will repeat the Finance Park simulation as Klamath Union seniors, just in time to assume real adult personas.