VISTA — High school seniors learned lessons on managing their money during a unique “bite of reality” at Guajome Park Academy on May 23.
Presented by the Sunrise Vista Kiwanis Club and North Island Credit Union, Bite of Reality uses a hands-on, app-based simulation that appeals to teens while giving them a taste of real-world financial realities. The software provided a fictional family, occupation, salary, credit score, student loan debt, credit card debt and medical insurance payments.
The teens then walked around to various table-top stations staffed by Kiwanis club members to purchase housing, transportation, food, clothing and other needs for their fictional responsibilities. Volunteers were told to deliberately upsell what was being offered so that students were required to make decisions regarding the affordability of the product or service.
About 125 students at the charter school participated.
After the simulation, math teacher Betsy Kalkwarf said the students were surprised they enjoyed it. She said one student told her Bite of Reality was “actually interesting and kind of fun.”
“This may not seem like a huge compliment, but from a high school senior this is big,” Kalkwarf said. “Overall, they were grateful for the experience and they learned a lot. It made them realize life is expensive.”
The Sunrise Vista Kiwanis Club, which is celebrating its 50th year, plans to arrange additional Bite of Reality programs at other local high schools in the near future.
