UMassFive, Greenfield Community College (GCC), and MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board (MFHWB) recently partnered to hold a Reality Fair for over 70 students from Pioneer, Mohawk, and Athol High Schools.
Reality Fair is an immersive budgeting exercise for high school students, allowing them to envision their life at age 25. During the event, students chose a career they are interested in and were assigned a salary connected with that field, including their “take-home” pay after taxes. Using that figure, students visited booths where volunteers offered life choices on various expenses including housing, insurance, transportation, food, retirement, and more. The volunteers engage with the students, sometimes emulating sales-culture by encouraging students to make emotional (and expensive) choices. Each student managed their budget with simulated checking and saving accounts and credit cards. Once students worked through their budget, they met one-on-one with a financial coach from UMassFive to discuss their experience and gain additional financial education and insights.
“Many students have no grasp of how complicated making spending decisions can be,” says Cait Murray, Community Outreach Manager at UMassFive. “Reality Fair is a vehicle to get students thinking about the weight of their choices in life, providing an opportunity to start applying financial wellness concepts at an early age.”
This event, held at Greenfield Community College, was supported by more than 30 volunteers from partnering organizations. In addition to the Reality Fair, students learned about GCC, took a campus tour, and engaged in some workforce development centered games.
