All Penn Manor juniors learned applicable financial lessons through REAL Life, a financial literacy program sponsored by Junior Achievement of South Central PA. The event ran at Penn Manor on October 23 and 24.
Students were broken up into groups with half the day focusing on a budgeting activity intended to help students gain an appreciation for the importance that financial decisions will play in their lives.
The budgeting activity gave students a unique life situation, including marital status, number of children, education, employment and income. With a local adult volunteer from the business world leading the groups, students had to determine how much of their income was available to them after taxes. Students allocated their money as they completed their budget.
“Is the Price Right?” was another activity students completed throughout the day. Students worked in groups to try to guess the prices for common household items, without going over.
The juniors competed in a game resembling the Game of Life, called REAL Life #Adulting. They were faced with financial challenges as they moved their pieces around the board.
The other half of the day was focused on career readiness issues, including interview skills and resume writing tips.
The activities were led by community volunteers in a variety of careers. Penn Manor teachers and a group of 12th grade students assisted the volunteers in making this event successful.
Thank you to the Junior Achievement team and volunteers for making this experience so beneficial!