April 13, 2018

Elms College hosts Junior Achievement Teen Reality Fair

REGIONAL
Staff report

 

 

CHICOPEE – College of Our Lady of the Elms helped to prepare area high school students for the world of financial literacy by hosting a Junior Achievement (JA) of Western Massachusetts Teen Reality Fair event on April 12.

Approximately 200 students from Chicopee High School and Chicopee Comprehensive High School visited Elms College for the JA program, which allows high school students to practice making real-life decisions about money and budgeting.

The high school participants role-play 25-year-olds who have to make financial choices based on their chosen jobs: They are given a credit score and a salary correlating to each job, plus $1,000 in a “savings account,” and they visit 16 different booths, including transportation, housing, education and training, entertainment, food and nutrition, clothing, furniture, insurance, loan center, savings and retirement, and charitable giving.

Students selected their occupations ahead of the event, and then received clipboards with budgeting worksheets when they arrived at Elms on April 12; they also were informed of their credit scores upon arrival at Berchmans Hall on the Elms campus.

Frances “Nicky” Palacio, a senior at Chicopee High School, chose to be a film editor for the event. She selected this occupation because she is attending the University of Hartford in the fall to study film.

Palacio wasn’t too shocked by the costs of everyday living. “Today’s been really good,” she said. “Everything seems reasonable.”

For many students like Palacio, budgeting is something they have already started doing in high school. “I pay for my own groceries and cook my own dinners, just to help my parents out,” she said.

The most surprising aspect of the event for her was the monthly cost of a wardrobe. “Do people really spend that much?” she joked.

Devan Petit, a senior at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, chose to be an EMT for the day. He said that he wanted to be a police offer for most of his life, and becoming an EMT is a career path very close to his original dream.

Petit was most surprised by the cost of food as he made his way around the different booths. “It’s crazy. Life is expensive!” he said.

Like Palacio, Petit is already learning the ins and outs of budgeting. He works part time at his local Friendly’s, and says that he pays for his cell phone bill on his own.

While he isn’t sure what his plans are for the fall yet, one thing is clear: Petit is focused on getting his thoughts together and forming a plan for his career. The Teen Reality Fair event gave him an eye-opening look at the post-high-school world.