While Hopedale High School students practiced their financial literacy skills, the adults in the room all expressed the same sentiment: “Why didn’t we have this when I was in school?”
They were talking about the Financial Fitness Fair at the Draper Memorial Gymnasium on December 13th. Juniors and seniors from Hopedale High attended the “FinFit” event, a chance to practice financial literacy and money management. And the adults around them bemoaned the fact that nothing like this was available when they were growing up.
Students attending were each given a future persona, a pretend career in the greater Boston area with a starting salary, and each would have to figure out how to spend their pay wisely and make it count. Would they live in the city, the priciest option? Or find an apartment in the suburbs and split the rent with roommates? Or would they consider that final, often reluctantly chosen option of living with mom and dad, raising commuting costs but lowering their cost of living – and some would say standard of fun – considerably.
Experts manned each booth as students sought financial alternatives, budgeted necessities, paid their bills, and saved for the extras. Professionals from the banking, investment, retirement, student loan, automobile, and insurance industries, along with knowledgeable volunteers, helped about 160 students figure out the best ways to spend. Booths covered the basics: housing, transportation, and food; alongside the tricky: health or apartment insurance, college choices, and student loan costs; and the important extras like cell phone and retirement plans, grooming options, and staying healthy. Students learned how to live within their means by making smart choices – something many adults struggle to do.
“We try to cover all aspects of life, not just the basics,” senior Ryan Maloney said of the fair’s “realistic simulation” of young adult life. “It’s better to be confused now and get help from experts.” Ryan and his classmates Fran Hodgens and Tyler Correa worked as the “FinFit Team,” with HHS’s business teacher and DECA advisor Talitha Oliveri. Students, mostly clad in “business casual” attire, made their rounds of the booths in an effort to balance financial fitness with quality of life.
The FInFit Team organized training sessions throughout the fall, giving the students the financial skills they could use to make their choices. But it all could be upended in an instant. Like real life, the students learned at the “Wheel of Fortune” that the unexpected can lead to financial disaster. The contestants spun the wheel and learned their fate – a car repair or a medical issue can empty a savings account quickly. But grandma could also send that surprise birthday check, so the news wasn’t always bad.
Rima Crepeau of Hopedale’s Parent-Teacher Organization helped spin that wheel. Her sons are Hopedale High graduates who attended past FinFit Fairs, and she said the events inspired them. Both sons were so interested in the financial process that they now study business at Bentley University. “I absolutely think it helped them,” she said.
The excitement spilled over to the students. At the end of their session, some of juniors remarked on what they had learned. “Do not buy stuff you cannot afford,” one said, while another noted, “living with your parents actually saves a lot of money.” The seniors, most of whom attended 2018’s FinFit Fair as juniors, started their financial quest with shelter in mind. The housing booth clogged with a mass of students planning their biggest monthly expense first, before moving on to other choices.
Jason King, who works with state Senator Ryan Fattman and attended on Fattman’s behalf, echoed the thoughts of most the adults at the event. “I wish we had something like this when I was in high school,” he said. He told the students that much of his life had been a “financial mess,” a mess he had to figure out on his own. State Representative Brian Murray worked as an attorney with bankruptcy cases, and told the students many adults learn financial lessons the hard way. “Pretty soon you’re going to be out there on your own making those decisions,” he said. He also noted the uniqueness of Hopedale’s FinFit Fair. “Not all school systems do this.” In fact, representatives from neighboring school departments attended the fair in an effort to learn how to bring financial fitness to their students.
Even Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early, the keynote speaker for this year’s fair, said he had not learned financial fitness in school. He suggested the students remember the difference between “needs and wants.” Teacher Talitha Oliveri agreed. “I truly believe that if students are financially literate, they can change their lives,” she said. “The FinFit Fair is an event that will shape their future views on finances and the reality of adult life. I can’t think of a better way to educate future generations.” That balance, between making ends meet and having quality of life, is hard to learn. This year’s FinFit Fair helped HHS students practice that lesson before the real world begins.
This year’s FinFit Fair life balance winners were: juniors Kiro Bebawy, Kyle Murray, and Andrew Spezio; and seniors Piper Hampsch, Sam Morelli, and Molly Parker.
Issue Date:
January, 2020
Article Body: