Area eighth-graders attend Financial Literacy Fair

Area eighth-grade students are a little more financially savvy after attending Kirkwood's annual Financial Literacy Fair at the KC Hall on Wednesday.

More than 270 students from Washington, Mid-Prairie and Highland attended the annual event which is staffed by local business leaders who help the students through the experience. The goal of the day to give the students a realistic outlook of what it's like to live and work in the real world.

Carole Hebl, Kirkwood's business liaison for Johnson County, explained that each of the booths was set up to help students with a specific financial need: food, housing, gas, etc. Before attending the event, the students were to pick out a prospective career, research it and come to the fair with their financial needs in mind.

The students stopped at the booths that would fit their future needs; student loan payments, insurance, clothing, and spent money as they needed to. At the end, they visited with a financial counselor who helped them figure out if the choices they made would make for a financially stable future or if they would need to reconsider.

'It's fun to see the eighth-graders because they don't realize what their parents have to go through every month and all of the bills that they have to pay. I think it's a great way to open up their eyes and for them to realize all that goes into living life or living on a budget and what we all have to pay for.”

Roger Diehl is a retired business teacher from Waterloo and drove down the day of the fair to volunteer. At his booth, students would present to him what kind of car they chose to purchase and he would help them determine how much they would need to spend on gas.

He said he was excited to get the chance to talk to the students because he felt it was very important they learn financialy responsibility from a young age.

'This is the kind of stuff I used to teach,” he said. 'All this stuff is just wonderful.”

Judy Marshall, program coordinator at the Kirkwood Regional Center, said she was excited about the large turnout and felt this was a great experience for the students. Being able to walk around a fair, rather than sit in a classroom and listen, she felt, allowed them to be able to ask questions and opened their eyes to what their financial futures may hold.

'I think it gives more of a real-world feel,” she said. 'I think sometimes they see a salary and they think it's a lot of money, but then when they go to each booth and add it up, they realize it's not as much and they have to really budget.”

Before the students left the fair, they had a chat with a financial adviser to see how well they did, or did not, stick to their budget. Jean Lenz, a personal banker at Hills Bank, volunteered for the second year.

Students presented their budget to her and she walked them through what they had purchased and helped coach them on saving on what they need versus what they want.

'It teaches them good life habits, I think. They learn early in life they need to save for some things they want, it teaches them good saving skills and also it teaches them that you do have to work for what you want. You don't always get the most luxury things, but you can get what you want if you budget correctly and work for it,” she said. 'Everything's possible if you put it in perspective.”