Madison high school students receive early finance lessons

Pamela Cotant:

In the Madison School District's four large high schools last week, students were given checkbooks and profiles detailing their life circumstances such as marriage, children, education and employment. Students then visited stations for typical purchases such as housing, utilities, food, transportation, childcare and entertainment as they tried to stay within their budget. To challenge their decision-making, some students also experienced unexpected setbacks such as illness or unemployment.

"It's really important to know what you are buying and how you are going to buy stuff, especially when the economy is down ... and money is tight," said Andy Yang, a La Follette High School senior.

About 1,400 students participated.

Volunteers from various businesses work at the stations, but bankruptcy trustees were missing this year because they couldn't get away due to their heavy workloads.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 19, 2009 6:42 PM
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