ASHLAND — Ella West is just a junior in high school, but for the last few weeks she’s planned for her future as a chef.
West has participated in Ohio State University Extension’s Real Money. Real World. program, along with the rest of her social studies class at Ashland County Community Academy.
The program is “a youth-focused financial literacy program.” It aims to increase participant awareness around topics like what it costs to maintain a household or how spending decisions affect other spending opportunities.
It’s the first time the program has been offered to high schoolers in Ashland County, according to Amy Nalley, a program assistant with Ohio State University Extension.
Students like West began the unit with selecting a career. Then, they spent the last few weeks learning lessons about the cost of education, paycheck deductions like taxes and banking basics.
It culminated in a Tuesday afternoon simulation where students considered how to pay for necessary expenses, like taxes and retirement, along with investing in wants and needs. Those included calculating student loan payments, transportation costs, entertainment and more.
Students will complete the unit with a wrap-up discussion Thursday, Nalley said.
“It’s a lot,” West said. “I didn’t think there would be so much.”
How did the program come to Ashland County?
Nalley first brought the program to the attention of Ashland County’s commissioners in the fall. She said the commissioners funded the programming, which Nalley also offers to a class of Hillsdale eighth graders.
Nalley used to teach at Ashland County Community Academy. She thought the program would be a good fit for the school. So, she connected with Hanna Smith, a social studies teacher at the academy.
Smith has taught social studies at Ashland County Community Academy for four years.
“Financial literacy is so, so hard to make fun,” she said.
Smith said she hasn’t had much success engaging students in lessons about financial literacy in the past. When she did try to have them develop budgets or plans, they often made unrealistic goals, promising never to use Doordash or eat out at restaurants in order to save their money.
But this year’s lessons and the hands-on nature of the simulation have proven beneficial for students, Smith said.
She credited that change to how realistic the program is to real life. That’s because students looked at building a budget from the perspective of a career they want and learning to be self-sufficient in funding their lifestyle.
“It’s a really good partnership, especially because Amy (Nalley) has worked here in the past, so she has a good knowledge of how to present the information,” Smith said.
Nalley said the students seem to leave feeling like the skills they gained are important.
Next she hopes to expand the program and bring it to other schools in the area.
As for West, she had no clue how to approach finances prior to the program. But afterwards, she believes she knows more about the topic.
“It definitely helps,” West said.
