MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Williamstown Chamber     Williams College     Your Government     Land & Housing Debate
Search
Mount Greylock, Wahconah Receive State Financial Literacy Program Grants
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
01:58PM / Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Print | Email  


Along with reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, students at Mount Greylock and Wahconah regional high schools this spring are going to focus on a fourth "r": the real world.
 
Earlier this month, State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced 24 Financial Education Innovation Fund grants to schools around the commonwealth.
 
Wahconah and Mount Greylock are among the group that will share nearly $60,000 to hold "Credit for Life" fairs.
 
At Wahconah in Dalton, that means a second and expanded "Reality Day," an initiative created last spring by business teacher Jeffrey Pike.
 
At last year's event, students picked a career, received a paycheck and then had to figure out how to make ends meet.
 
"We don't want them to be terrified about being an adult, but we want them to be prepared," Pike said.
 
Volunteers from businesses around Berkshire County participated in the Wahconah event to teach the students life lessons.
 
With the money from the state grant, Pike plans to thank those volunteers and keep them on campus all day so he can expand the event.
 
"One of the issues that came up last year was the timing of it with a lot of kids in a small area," he said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get through everything because there was so much interest.
 
"We kind of underestimated the size and excitement of it."
 
Instead of a half-day event in the school's cafeteria, this year's fair will be offered all day in the gymnasium, Pike hopes. That adds an additional expense — renting chairs and tables — that he plans to pay from the grant money.
 
Mount Greylock business teacher Lisa Mendel plans to use the grant to pay for materials for a series of 10 seminars that will be presented to seniors. In addition to signage and publicity materials, she envisions T-shirts and materials the students can take with them from the event.
 
"Grade 12 students are leaving Mount Greylock without having some important skills related to their future," Mendel wrote in her grant application. "We are hoping that by putting on an 'Exiting Financial Fair' that students will gain further skills that they need to navigate through important decisions such as: resume writing, interview skills, dressing for success, how to get along with your college roommate, paying for college, how to purchase and maintain a vehicle, how to write checks, how to apply for a loan, how to prepare meals/self-care and extreme couponing."
 
Mendel organized a similar event with a grant from the same state program in the fall for ninth-graders.
 
She said even graduating seniors who are headed to college can benefit from the life lessons taught ni the seminars.
 
"Even though they may not be financially independent, they still can save money for something, they're still working part-time jobs to cover costs, they can still start to pay some of their bills down," she said.
 
And by the same token, students planning to enter the workforce after graduation can benefit from discussions about how to pay for college.
 
"Even if they're not going on to college right away, a lot of us have to be lifelong learners," Mendel said. "They may have to go to college and take a couple of classes even if it doesn't end up being a degree program."
 
The Mount Greylock program again will use volunteers from local colleges and businesses, including alumni of the high school.
 
At Wahconah, last year's Reality Day event, which was targeted at juniors and seniors, brought in businesses ranging from banks to car dealerships to food retailers to talk about how personal finance impacts all areas of day-to-day life.
 
"Guido's [Fresh Marketplace] came last year and talked about the cost of food," Pike said. "Fresh food is more expensive but it has better nutrients and you're healthier. And we talked about the cost of health insurance.
 
"Last year, we had to put a cap on [the time] because we had kids chasing around from table to table again and again because everything is interwoven."
Comments
More Featured Stories
Williamstown.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved