Financial literacy isn’t usually part of the average high schoolcurriculum, but credit unions around the country step in everyApril for National Financial Literacy Month to try and explain reallife money issues to teens who are about to go out into the realworld.

According to the Michigan Education Association, in 2014 thecost that parents spend out-of-pocket for school supplies andextracurricular activities is $1,223 for high school students andfor teens such as Betsy Zakby of Monterey, the cost of being acheerleader tacks on another $1,500.
“I guess my parents are okay paying it,” she said. “I have no ideawhat their money issues are. I’m kind of afraid when I graduatethat I’ll have to figure things out like how to pay my own way.It’s scary because my parents keep everything about money hiddenfrom me.”
Last month, Ideal Credit Union in Woodbury, MN with $587.6 millionin assets held their program, “What’s in it for You” to enticeyoung members to save more money. Members were given a free t-shirtand sunglasses when they opened a youth savings account, and wereentered to win $100 when they opened a new account or made adeposit into an already existing account during the month ofApril.
In San Francisco and Southern California area students attended the2015 Bite of Reality financial workshop, a simulated reality gamethat empowers them to learn critical money management skills in afun and interactive way. RMJ Foundation sponsors the workshop eachyear at no cost to teens.

Bite of Reality was co-hosted by SkyOne Federal Credit Union, ofHawthorn, CA, with$430 million in assets, South Bay Credit Union inLos Angeles, CA with $87 million in assets and Xceed FinancialCredit Union of El Segundo, CA with $1.2 billion in assets.

They tested the teens’ abilities to make sound, financial decisionsbased on real-life scenarios. Each participant was assigned afictional “profile” with their occupation, salary, spouse andfamily, student loans and credit card debt, and medical insurancepayments. From there, they visited a variety of table-top stationsto “purchase” housing, transportation, food and clothing, daycare,and other life necessities from the “merchants.” At the center ofthe simulated experience was the “credit union” to help the teensmake debt, savings, and other financial decisions.

The teens also faced unexpected expenses and windfalls. “I likedthe ‘fickle finger of fate,’ where someone would randomly sneak upon you and say you had to pay for a flat tire or something,” saidTiahna Bardmore, a participating teen. “I had just paid off mycredit card debt, and that showed me how something totally out ofmy control could happen, setting me back again.”

SkyOne CEO, Eileen Rivera, shared her thoughts on the event. “Thelevel of detail our volunteers provided was worthy of a reality TVshow in itself,” she said. “They created some great real-worldfinancial scenarios that forced the teens to sharpen theirbudgeting and money management skills – areas not typically coveredin traditional classroom curriculums.”