American Heritage Credit Union (“American Heritage”) recently held three Financial Reality Fairs for the junior classes of MaST Community Charter Schools I, II, and III (“MaST”). More than 300 students participated in this program, which offers them an opportunity to budget and plan for life expenses such as housing, transportation, groceries, and more.

Students are each assigned a specific career and salary and must make life choices based on their income. For instance, students can choose to live at home with their parents, on their own, or with a roommate. 120 volunteers from American Heritage and MaST helped to carry out the program and illustrate how quickly expenses, bills, and debt can pile up out in the real world.

“I think having an opportunity to use realistic situations, like an actual career, an actual salary, and then showing the students the reality of how difficult it might be to make that salary last makes a big difference—it goes beyond just talking to them about it,” said Katie McConnell, Network Counselor for MaST. “As soon as you graduate high school, you’re expected to make pretty big financial decisions. We are grateful for the American Heritage team and all the volunteers for putting these Financial Reality Fairs together.

The students completed a worksheet during the program and visited booths that focus on different aspects of life, such as housing, entertainment, groceries, and more. They then tallied up their expenses and worked with volunteer financial counselors from American Heritage and MaST to evaluate their success or shortcomings. For those who fell short of their budget, they had the opportunity to take on a part-time job or make some different choices.

Additionally, students needed to spin the Wheel of Reality, which can provide a positive or negative outcome. Some of the potential outcomes from this booth include receiving a tax return, needing to pay money for a wedding gift, an unexpected car repair, and more.

“Here at American Heritage, financial education is at the heart of everything we do,” said Krystal Nunn, MBA, Financial Wellness Administrator for American Heritage. “Our Financial Reality Fair program offers the students an opportunity to apply their knowledge to real world scenarios. We aim to provide the same level of commitment and diligence with these students as we do with our membership every day. I thank our associate volunteers, as well as the faculty and administrators at MaST for allowing us to meet their students and put forth this crucial program.”

“I am incredibly proud of our team each year for their work and dedication, especially when it comes to financial education for our community,” said Bruce K. Foulke, President & CEO of American Heritage Credit Union. “These Financial Reality Fairs with MaST are just one example of how we can provide financial education support. We also offer a series of free monthly webinars, post blogs on a variety of topics, and host a hub of calculator tools, videos, and more in the Learning Center of our website. Financial education is, and always will be, a core principle of what we do as a financial institution.” 

To learn more about American Heritage, click here.