During the week of April 7th, seventh grade students from the Firebird and XStream Teams went to the Reality Store, a future planning activity designed by VSAC, where they added up all of the monthly expenses they expect to face as an adult. Some expenses were predetermined amounts based on random assignments, such as daycare or pet expenses. Others were based on their own decisions: basic or luxury groceries, how many streaming services, drive a used car, a new truck or ride a bike? All their decisions impacted their total expenses. From there, students used a monthly income based on a career choice from a list generated by O'Net My Next Move Career Interest Profile, a widely used online resource in career education. Using income and expense information allowed students to see the probability that their career would support their lifestyle.
When asked about what they got out of the activity students responded:
I was able to get “some possible ideas for careers and how my mind could change over the year."
"Life is expensive"
"I will need a good paying job when I'm older!"
What a great activity to add a little context to the Apprenticeship and Trades Fair
students also attended on April 16th.