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Judy Zehringer with Financial Concepts Inc. advises Celina eighth graders Alexys Caylor and Josiah McGee during Wednesday morning's financial simulator at the Mercer County Fairgrounds' Market Hall.
CELINA - More than 500 Mercer County eighth grade students this week left the classroom for a spell to take part in a "real world" simulation where they were tasked with securing life essentials such as housing, food, insurance, clothing and child care while staying within their budget.
Afterward, they met with area businesses and organizations to learn about local job opportunities and careers available right here in Mercer County.
Grand Lake Regional ESC's Business Advisory Council hosted the twin events - "Real Money, Real World" and "Dream Big" - at Market Hall and the VTF Grand Event Center at the Mercer County Fairgrounds in Celina.
The events were carried out with support from Mercer County OSU Extension, Tri Star Career Compact, Wright State University-Lake Campus and Mercer County Community & Economic Development, according to Grand Lake Regional ESC Superintendent Shelly Vaughn.
Additionally, more than 100 volunteers and scores of businesses, local government agencies and other organizations turned out for the sessions.
St. Henry, Coldwater, Fort Recovery and Parkway eighth graders participated in the activities on Tuesday, while Celina eighth graders got their chance on Wednesday.
Celina eighth graders gather around to discuss and review their student loan options.
"Obviously we want them to understand, 'Hey, real life takes some management and some decision making, and I have a better idea now thinking ahead about what those decisions will look like,'" said ESC workforce and career navigator Sandi Holdheide. "Our Business Advisory Council's main mission is for students to walk away and see, 'I can make money and a career here in Mercer County and have the lifestyle I've always dreamed of."
The day's events also gave the students a chance to practice their soft skills, which according to Mercer County Community Development director Jared Ebbing can be just as crucial as having good grades and an excellent resume.
"Use this as an opportunity to look these adults in the eye, shake their hand, introduce yourself," Ebbing advised students.
Wednesday morning's session started out in Market Hall, where dozens of booths were set up and manned by business representatives and officials of all stripes.
Students were randomly assigned an occupation, education level/degree, gross annual salary and children. They were asked to determine their net pay, taking into account local, state and federal taxes, as well as FICA and retirement savings, and establish a monthly budget.
The students went out among the various booths to lock down housing, food, transportation, home and auto insurance, clothing, child care, cellphones and data plans, credit, and loans.
"So when they go to the stations, there will be an option for like food. There's a thrifty plan and a high-end plan. So are you doing organic high-end meats or are you doing basic thrifty types of grocery shopping?" said OSU Extension 4-H Educator Beth Guggenbiller. "But then that plan also changes based on how many kids they have. So it's kind of a whole grid you work across."
They also had the option to spend money on entertainment and make donations to charities.
"They can donate time, so you're going to volunteer by doing trash pickup, or you're going to donate money to the Red Cross," Guggenbiller said. "They talk to them (about how) you still donate to your community even when you don't have enough money. So how can you volunteer your time?"
Students soon found out the high cost of living - and how difficult it is to stretch that dollar.
"Do not spend money on things that you don't need, such as like a brand new car," noted Tobias Collins, who was assigned the occupation of a civil engineer earning an $81,070 salary. "I actually have $964. I would say I'm not out of money, but I'm getting close to it."
Mercer County eighth graders experienced a financial simulator at the Mercer County Fairgrounds' Market Hall on Wednesday morning. Grand Lake Regional ESC's Business Advisory Council hosted the event.
Hugh Grieshop, playing the role of an electrician and father of a 3-year-old, learned a valuable lesson.
"My monthly budget was $4,109. I had to cut back on my groceries. I got the most expensive one, and I had to cut back because my child insurance was too much," Grieshop said. "I learned that you don't need the most expensive stuff when you don't have your parents paying for it. You really got to know when to cut back and when to get the most expensive thing."
Briggs Jeffries, assuming the role of a childcare worker and father of three, had considerably less money to work with than some of the other students. With a salary of $27,340, Jeffries had to take on some debt to finance his obligations.
"I was able to get everything but I definitely needed to get a lot of loans from the bank, some help from the insurance people and just pretty much cut back on everything," he said. "It just really shows the difference of how much you take for granted when you have your parents paying for everything versus reality."
Many business representatives, including Gina Hess, chief operations officer and partner at Preferred Insurance Center, were more than happy to be on hand Wednesday.
"I actually love this activity. We did not have this growing up," Hess said. "This is just absolutely awesome."
Vaughn said the sessions held over the course of two days went amazingly well.
"The conversations are rich, the learning has been wonderful, and I love when students have a choice in the activities, because so much of school is very rigidly defined," she said. "And so you see a lot of smiles on faces, I think, because they have a lot of choice in how they're learning through this activity."
Mercer County eighth graders had an opportunity to meet area businesses and organizations to learn about local job opportunities and careers at the Mercer County Fairgrounds' TF Grand Event Center on Wednesday morning. Grand Lake Regional ESC's Business Advisory Council hosted the event.
After students finished "Real Money, Real World," they headed over to the VTF Grand Event Center for "Dream Big," an opportunity to interact with area businesses and organizations and check out an ambulance, a tow truck, a sheriff's cruiser, a fire tanker, a mobile dental unit, a dump truck, a semitrailer, a bucket truck and other heavy equipment.
"When we got the Grand Event Center, it's so grand," Vaughn said about the venue that made its long-awaited public debut at the 174th Mercer County Fair last month. "Let's dream big. Let's bring in big, heavy equipment. Let's showcase careers for students, and they can learn a lot more and hands on. So the whole concept of this was that idea of dreaming big, and actually seeing and crawling up in the equipment and having conversations with the people that do these jobs every day."
Some of the businesses and organizations set up in the event center were the Mercer County Engineer's Office, Stachler Concrete Inc., Celina Fire Department, Lefeld Industrial & Welding Supplies, Health Partners of Western Ohio, Mercer Health, Cheeseman Transport, Hague Towing and St. Henry Tile Co. Inc.
"So now that they know that they have a lifestyle in mind that they want to finance, let's dream about what careers would finance that lifestyle," Holdheide said. "Come over here. Take a peek at some of this equipment. See what these people do every day. Talk to them. I have been really, really impressed so far with the kids coming up and asking great questions."
