MATTAPOISETT — Superintendent Michael S. Nelson and Principal Mike Devoll are pleased to share that Old Rochester Regional High School hosted its inaugural Credit for Life Fair on April 10.
All seniors participated in the fair hosted in the high school cafeteria in collaboration with Cape Cod 5 bank. The fair aims to help students learn about budgeting and money management skills, as well as starting to think about building healthy financial habits.
Prior to the event, students selected a career of interest. Based on the associated salary of their chosen occupation, students were tasked with budgeting real-life expenses during the fair, such as housing, transportation, education, insurance and more. They were given checking and savings accounts and a credit card. They were also hit with real-life pop-up scenarios along the way, such as their luggage being lost, expenses from their best friend’s wedding, saving money on insurance for safe driving, and receiving grant money for school.
“Most high schoolers don’t have an understanding of what credit is, what a credit card is, or when to use it,” ORRHS senior Hunter Bishop said. “The best part of the event was learning how to manage our finances, and knowing what accounts (credit, checking, savings) we should be paying for things with. It felt very interactive and everyone ended up learning something.”
Overall, the fair seeks to give students a “reality check” on how much money they would realistically be working with given the selected career, what their expenses may look like and how they can live within their budget.
“It was exciting to host our first Credit for Life Fair this week to help our students learn about developing healthy financial habits,” Superintendent Nelson said. “Budgeting, saving and other skills students practiced through the Credit for Life scenarios are a valuable part of financial literacy education. We are grateful to host events like this that allow students to participate in hands-on, realistic learning experiences and ask questions of professionals.”
Prior to the fair, Jim Curran from Cape Cod 5 presented to seniors about the FitMoney financial literacy certificate program, the five habits for financial wellness and using a household budget calculator.
“We are thrilled to have worked with Old Rochester Regional High School as they conducted their inaugural Credit For Life Fair,” Curran said. “One of Cape Cod 5’s ways of community engagement is through the Advancement of Financial Know-How, and our goal in these efforts is to meet people where they are on their financial journey. This program is a great opportunity to help students start to think about building healthy financial habits. It’s important to start thinking about some of the things that are going to come up in their lives to help them build a foundation for the future.”
High school students throughout Massachusetts participate in the Credit for Life Fair in the spring. It is put on by a group of local banks that partner to support financial literacy in Massachusetts public schools.
“This was a great opportunity for our seniors to get this kind of experience,” Director of Guidance Lauren Millette said. “Our students have expressed interest in learning more about financial literacy in the real world and thanks to volunteers from Cape Cod 5, Eastern Bank, Abington Bank, local businesses and the community, we were able to provide them with this opportunity. Supporting our students beyond their time in high school is really important to us. We hope that this fair provided valuable insight that will prepare all of our seniors for their financial futures.”
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