Area students learn financial literacy

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Local high school seniors got a chance to make “real world” financial decisions during a financial literacy simulation held Thursday in the Van Wert High School gymnasium.

The simulation was the culmination of the “Real Money, Real World” financial literacy course provided to local schools by the Ohio State University Extension. It is the second year the coursework has been used in Van Wert County.

OSU Extension Agent Heather Gottke said Thursday that the simulation covers material provided to students during a series of four lesson plans provided by Ohio State: “Working with Deductions,” “What is a Checking or Savings Account?”, “How to Budget Your Needs vs. Your Wants”, and “How Your Career Affects Your Income.”

Approximately 37 senior government students from Lincolnview and 85 VWHS government students participated Thursday in the simulation, which is designed to provide students with information on how to make good decisions when buying insurance, cars, housing, providing child care, and a number of other financial areas.

Gottke said the simulation assumes students to be 25 years of age and married, but with a non-working spouse, for whatever reason. They can also have up to three children, but must also make decisions then on childcare, and feeding and clothing children.

“The stations provide a variety of options, from more thrifty to more elaborate,” Gottke said, adding that students can always go back to a station and change a choice, if they need to.

There was also a special station that provided financial advice to students who got into a financial bind.

Gottke said that the curriculum used for the simulation Thursday comes from Defiance County, but added that she is worked with local businesses to come up with a curriculum tailored expressly to Van Wert County.

While Ohio State provides the basic curriculum for the financial literacy program, Gottke said each county using the program is encouraged to localize it. “OSU gives us the basic idea and then says ‘make it your own,’” the county Extension agent noted.

The Defiance County curriculum, while not localized, does provide similar financial situations to Van Wert County, as compared to Franklin County, for example.

Gottke said the curriculum more accurately reflects housing costs for this area, versus those in a city such as Columbus, and also doesn’t have public transportation options, since those aren’t available in this county.

She noted that this year’s curriculum didn’t deal with student loan costs, but said she is hoping to add that component to next year’s simulation.

Meanwhile, participating seniors got the chance to learn about the impact of financial decisions on their lives, and how to better prepare for the “real world” in which they will be living — probably sooner than they imagine.