Senior Class Faces Future Expectations at JA Finance Park
By Jacob Marbach
April 17, 2023
Senior Class Faces Future Expectations at JA Finance Park
By Jacob Marbach (12)
jacob.marbach@fwcsstudents.org
April 17, 2023
On Thursday April 13th and Friday, April 14th, South Side Senior students explored the Junior Achievement Finance Park. Students were given different fields of jobs and how to work through post high school experiences.
“If you get a good understanding about saving and budgeting now, you will have an easier time in the future,” said Economics Teacher David Siples. The purpose of the Finance Park was to prepare seniors for real life scenarios by choosing what expenses are priorities, and what are unnecessary.
Siples took his first 3 classes on Thursday, and his last 3 classes on Friday. Groups of six to eight students were placed via their last name and class period. The seniors are assigned a group but are required to do individual classwork for a grade.
“I would say it was really fun and entertaining. When you are with a group it is much more engaging,” said Dang Le (12). Many students just enjoy getting out of school and interacting instead of wasting away in a classroom.
There were volunteers who instructed each group to get them started. After the introduction was complete, groups were sent on rotation to explore the monthly requirement funds for certain categories.
FWCS volunteer Linda Miller instructed the clothing category. With IPads given, they used the unlock code to explore three different types of clothing. Students got to choose which section of clothing would be best based on their income and family. (photo by Jacob Marbach (12))
The categories consisted of electrical and gas bills, transportation, home payments, loans, savings and more. The 27 categories were to be budgeted based on the certain career you were given.
“I liked the fact that everyone had a different scenario because you never know what life will throw at you,” said Cody Doolittle (12). Randomizing everyone's career and family made each experience unique.
Everyone was given randomized careers and family situations. Some salaries were higher than others making budgeting harder for students with certain careers. Some students were given a child or a spouse. After the students finished the 27 categories they were dismissed to lunch.
Evan Fugate (12) and Patrick Mudd (12) are enjoying a series of snacks after exploring the 27 categories based on their net monthly income. There were school lunches, packed lunches, and Chick Fil-A sandwiches. (photo by Jacob Marbach (12))
For lunch you could either bring your own, receive a school lunch containing peanut butter & jelly, veggies and sun chips, or students were given the opportunity to place an order for a Chick Fil-A sandwich costing $5 each.
After lunch, students wrapped up their Finance Park experience by shopping for necessities in each category. They utilized their net monthly income to balance out the money you put in each section. The main sections everyone utilized most were housing, transportation, and food.
After each group utilized their net monthly income spending, the JA Finance Park was complete! South side seniors left JA with full stomachs and knowledge necessary for their futures.
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