OUTLOOK - It's hoped that students at Outlook High School are more knowledgable about fiscal responsibility after a hands-on presentation held last week aimed at getting them ready for adulthood.
On Thursday, January 11, a special event was held in the school gym called 'Game of Life: Reality Check'. Part of the Sun West Career Development program, the event brought out a number of local businesses and saw Grade 11 and 12 students learn about how to prepare themselves for the real world; creating monthly budgets, dealing with household repairs, and making life decisions such as vehicle purchases, housing, groceries, clothing, fuel, wellness, insurance, savings and investment.
The students were given individualized career cards that were based on conversations with their Career Development teacher about their future plans for employment and schooling. When they entered the gym, they were greeted by booths featuring various local businesses that highlighted the options that were available to them. As the students visited the booths, they had to make decisions based on their income, and along the way, they were hit with a number of 'Life's Surprises' that ranged from losing a week's wages due to illness to having a major appliance break down in their home, as well as other pop-up events ranging from pleasant surprises to other need-to-fix calamities.
Needing to stay within their budgets based on their individual wages, many students were able to live within their means with careful planning, while a sizable portion of them found the unique exercise challenging as they quickly had to figure out how to meet their needs while at the same time, worrying about luxury items.
The event served as a ground level way to introduce students to the realities that await them after graduation, and saw the participation of Remax Shoreline Realty, AG Foods, Regal Motors, Sun Life Financial, Riverbend Co-op, A&E Enterprises, Shay Stephenson, Jacq'y Jayes Boutique, RBC, and the Town of Outlook.
