Choices of careers, clothing and cars were laid in front of area 8th graders yesterday.
“Welcome to the Real World” is a simulation for junior high students in which they walk through the GHS Fieldhouse, choosing a career and then managing their money based on the income tied to it.
It’s designed to give students some idea of financial responsibilities they’ll have in adulthood.
Students had to pay bills, loans, rent and ration for clothing, entertainment and housing.
Tessa Hobbs-Curley is a youth development educator with the University of Illinois Extension who organizes the event.
She tells WGIL the hope is that students come away with a clearer concept of the hard choices embedded in adulthood.
“When parents sometimes have to say, ‘not today’ or ‘I can’t pay for that t-shirt’ or ‘we’re not going to buy those type of shoes’, this event will give them a little more understanding of needs versus wants and how to survive,” Hobbs-Curley says.
Nine area schools participated in “Welcome to the Real World” from Knox, Warren and Henderson counties.
