Eighth grade students participated in the annual Reality Check activity at Kirtland Middle School, May 5, 2016. School Nurse and Reality Check coordinator Jessica Dalton emphasized how this fun activity not only serves to exercise the students’ math and critical thinking skills, but also gave them a small taste of financial reality as a working adult. Students were assigned a job and monthly income, based on their education level but were allowed to choose their marital status and number of children. Students then visited different stations including housing and utilities, childcare, transportation, and groceries to choose their monthly purchases based on their initial income level and current available balance. The Reality Check activity taught students the importance of graduating high school and demonstrated the benefits of higher education when considering the financial burdens of becoming an adult.
