Washington County learning exercise helping students prepare for future

ABINGDON, Va. – Daniel Heath thought a job in information technology would enable him to live the good life. But halfway through paying the bills, he had to get a second job flipping burgers.

Before he was done, he needed to start over and choose a less-extravagant lifestyle so he could survive on his income.

“I started out thinking I was never going to be able to make it,” said Heath, an 18-year-old Holston High School senior participating in a learning exercise Wednesday at the Washington County Career and Technical Education Center. “Then it ended up when I made smarter choices, I had money left.”

That was exactly the lesson career advisors said they hoped their students would get at the “Reality Store,” which paired a randomly drawn life scenario 10 years in the future with the expected income from each student’s chosen career path.

The students, all high school seniors, visited 17 different tables manned by community volunteers, where they learned about such expenses as housing, transportation, utilities, groceries, health insurance and child care. Held for the first time Wednesday, the event gave teens a hands-on look at budgeting in the real world.

“One of my primary responsibilities as the career specialist is to prepare all our seniors for the real world when they graduate school, and I think part of that is being able to budget, pay your own bills and live within your means,” said Sherry Greer, who put the program together. “I think the main goal of the Reality Store is to give our students an opportunity to either confirm their current education and career goals or refine them.”

A dose of reality

Some teens had no trouble budgeting to raise a family on a typical blue-collar salary, while others with coveted office jobs struggled to make ends meet.

“When your parents raise you … it’s actually a lot more money than kids think,” said Alayna King, 17, a senior at Patrick Henry High School, who said she had a new appreciation for her parents.

“I think [my assumption] was just like that if you have a good job, you’ll always have enough money,” said King, who plans to be a counselor. “I never would’ve thought food would cost that much.”

Jeremiah Ringley, a 19-year-old John Battle High School senior, had the opposite reaction: At the start of the exercise, he wasn’t sure how he was going to make it on his pay as a welder, estimated at $1,920 a month. But in the simulation his spouse brought home $1,200 – and at the end he had $850 leftover.

“I feel like I’m lucky, and I hope to make the right choices and make it out there in life,” said Ringley, who said he has received his welding certification and, with it, a good chance of finding a job.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be,” he said. “I can’t live the expensive life, but you’ve got to do with what you’ve got.”

Still, he said, making it in the world takes more than people think.

“I just think it’s hard for our generation, the way our economy is,” he said. “It’ll be hard for our generation to make it out there in the world.”

At the beginning

The first stop at the Reality Store was Uncle Sam, where a portion of their income was deducted for taxes. Then, the students headed to the bank.

“How much would you like to deposit into your savings account for emergency needs?” asked Mable Soublo, a financial center leader for BB&T and a volunteer at the Reality Store “bank.”

Next was housing, where most of the students found out they’d have to rent rather than buy because they didn’t have enough money in savings.

“They came to buy,” said Sue Ann Morris, a realtor volunteering at the booth. “They didn’t realize it took so much money to get into a house.”

Sara Stilwell, manning the grocery table, said the students were shocked at the cost of food. Buckey Boone said they also were surprised at the cost of cable, cell phone and Internet service – about $180 on average for all three.

Barbara Hendrickson, a college and career advisor manning the utility table, said the imaginary plight of the students could be a comment on the real-life dilemma facing families as electricity rates rise.

“What’s bad is when they don’t have enough money to pay their utilities and then they have to go back to housing and get something less,” she said. “They act kind of embarrassed and frustrated when they have to go back and search for housing that’s more affordable.”

The adults manning the booths for smaller-ticket items – clothing, furniture, entertainment – said the students didn’t have problems with sticker shock there. And the students knew to put other things first, they said.

“I heard students say they would go to the park one day with a picnic,” teacher Melody Counts said. “I heard them come up with some creative ways they would entertain themselves for nothing.”

Teacher Mike Smith ran a table that didn’t appear to get much traffic: contributions.

“I think that budgets are going to be pretty tight,” he predicted at the outset. “If you were barely getting by, how much would you be giving?”

Halfway into the program, Smith had received only one contribution: $10 from Ringley for the Salvation Army – a gift he’d made before figuring the cost of any personal expenses.

“I like to help other people out before I help myself out,” Ringley said. “I know other people are in need more than I am.”

Teaching real life

Teens like Heath came away from the Reality Store with a new plan: Prioritize what’s really important.

After choosing lower-cost living options, he said he’d put money into savings for unexpected expenses and for a future goal: “I hope to work up enough to get a house at least,” he said, “to own my own home.”

Teacher Sue Havola said he heard a whole list of things the kids suggested while trying to work through their imaginary finances.

“I had some of them say they were going to put their wives to work, and some said they were going to divorce their wives,” she said. “One of them said, ‘We don’t need insurance because we’re going to live with our parents.’ ”

Kayla Holman, an 18-year-old cosmetology student, said she won’t make enough money as a cosmetologist – so she’s eventually going to go to nursing school, “so I can make the big bucks.”

“I don’t want to be poor,” she said. “My family was pretty poor growing up, so I’d rather have a big chunk of money.

“Things are a bit more expensive than what I imagined,” she said.

Sherrie Spiegler, a career coach at local high schools for Virginia Highlands Community College, said she hopes kids realize, as part of learning about the challenges of life, that college is an option.

“Any extra education after high school increases your income,” she said.

Greer said a lot of the jobs available in Virginia these days are in skilled trades – and students can use these technical skills as a career or as a fallback if other ambitions don’t pan out.

She hopes the Reality Store, shopped only by career and technical education students Wednesday, will catch on at other county schools. She said it’s a valuable way to teach kids about setting career goals, prioritizing needs over wants and understanding the impact the choices they make today could have years into the future.

“You never know what curve balls life’s going to throw,” she said. “You can do everything right, and you never know what could happen and change your plans.”

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701