PHS to host Reality Check Day

PORTALES — High School freshmen in Portales will soon be able to take part in an event intended to teach financial responsibility, but they won't be the only ones who stand to benefit.

"Reality Check Day," an event organized by United Way of Eastern New Mexico, will be coming to PHS Jan. 13 and Feb. 10, with each day featuring a morning and afternoon session, according to UWENM Director Erinn Burch.

"Reality Check Day is a chance for us to create a day of simulation for the ninth-graders to experience adult financial responsibility and understand different things that come into play when they're making decisions as grown ups about lunch or groceries, and different budgeting decisions and how it plays out," she said.

Through a grant secured by a local credit union, the program was introduced last year to Clovis High School Freshman Academy.

According to Burch, the morning and afternoon sessions will feature two simulations, respectively: "Mad City Money," a budgeting simulation in which students are given a persona, a salary and a family and must make financial decisions to stay within their budget; and "The Struggle is Real," in which students will join family groups facing financial hardships, including unemployment and disability.

While opportunities to learn about financial responsibility abound for students, the adults who volunteer in the event stand to gain just as much experience, said Burch.

The volunteers will assume the roles of landlords, car salespeople, social workers, bankers, and other figures who play a role in an adult's financial life.

"What I find is the volunteers just love it, and give a great experience for the students, as well as learn things and see things through their eyes that they maybe hadn't seen or thought of before," she said.

While she knows from past events that it won't transform students into financial experts, Burch believes the shift in perspective that "Reality Check Day" offers makes it worth holding.

"This is a perspective-changing event. That's really what the focus is, because kids are not gonna leave this budgeting geniuses or something. What they're going to leave this event with is a new perspective on the importance of paying attention to where their money goes," she said, "the importance of thinking through their decisions and thinking about the long-term effects of different decisions, and just the importance of maybe even going slow into some of these decisions and realizing that it's harder than it appears."

Interested volunteers may register for either "Reality Check Day" event at http://www.volunteerenm.org, or by calling 211.