Dose of reality for eighth-graders

Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Spinning the "Wheel of Life" at the 2014 Putnam County Reality Store, Greencastle Middle School eighth-grader Matthew Muncie lands on higher education for his future as Kappa Delta Phi member Loretta Maxwell explains his options. The annual Reality Store event brought some 550 area eighth-graders to the Putnam County Fairgrounds for the reality experience.

Welcome to our world, eighth-graders.

The harsh reality of facing tight budgets, growing housing and utility costs, insurance needs, future goals and innumerable obstacles along the way emerged as an object lesson Monday for area eighth-graders.

More than 550 students from Greencastle, Cloverdale, Eminence, North Putnam and South Putnam descended upon the fairgrounds Monday for the annual Reality Experience, sponsored by the Greencastle Kiwanis Club in conjunction with the local Lions and Rotary clubs, Kappa Delta Phi and Delta Theta Tau philanthropic sororities, League of Women Voters, Youth Development Commission, local real estate, insurance, banking and justice system representatives.

The Reality Store event, which Kiwanis assumed from the Greencastle Business and Professional Women (BPW) in 2005, takes students on a hands-on 15-stop tour of reality around the Community Building, starting with the inevitability of paying taxes and concluding with information on voting and civic pride.

Given a chance to see what it's like to be an adult, students were even allowed an opportunity to cast ballots on a timely question of the day (this year it was "Should children fleeing from violence in another country be allowed to stay in the U.S.?").

"We always try to present an interesting question for them," Kiwanis organizer Jim Maxwell noted as Ann Newton of the Greencastle League of Women Voters counseled Gretchen Weliever of Greencastle Middle School on casting her vote.

Overall, the teenage participants voted in favor of allowing foreign children fleeing violence to stay in the U.S.

The final vote tally was 360-104, Newton reported. By school, the breakdown was: Greencastle 102-32, North Putnam 95-19, South Putnam 67-20, Cloverdale, 65-25 and Eminence 31-8.

Spinning the Wheel of Life offered the most interactive experience, even without cries of "big money," as "Wheel of Fortune contestants like to shout in coaxing the wheel to comply. Seeyle Stoffregen of Greencastle spun the wheel under the watchful eye of Loretta Maxwell of Kappa Delta Phi, earning a $100 shopping spree with her mother. Matthew Muncie, meanwhile, put his spin on a "higher education" future with his turn at the wheel.

Checking out her medical and optical options with Lori Lucas of Putnam County Hospital, Greencastle Middle School eighth-grader Erin Thomas explores her future during a visit to the Reality Store Monday at the Putnam County Fairgrounds.

Reality Store goals include prompting teens to start thinking about their future, which financial resources will be necessary to accommodate their desired lifestyle and the value of education in being able to obtain well-paying jobs to enable support of such lifestyles.

Prior to the experience, the eighth-graders have worked with teachers and school counselors on career planning and such aspects of adult life as balancing a checkbook. Asked to envision their lifestyle when they reach their 20s, the students had chosen an occupation from a prepared list and are then given an annual gross salary to start with on their Reality Store rounds.

The lure of a new car or truck, coupled with the necessity of insuring such a vehicle, left many an eighth-grader faced with the harsh reality of not having much money to spend on food and clothing or furniture and appliances.

"By the time most of them get here, they have no money," Dean Gambill, of the Putnam County Foundation, participating in his fourth straight Reality Experience, said from the Food and Housing table."

Organizers note that the Reality Store is often an eye-opening experience for the teenagers, many of whom have not been exposed to the true cost of living.

"More than one young person has told our volunteers that the experience helped them understand why staying in school, staying off drugs and avoiding teen pregnancies are so important," Jim Maxwell said. "They also learn there is more to raising and providing for a family's needs than ever imagined."

Or as one exasperated middle schooler expressed loudly. "Dude, I've gotta get a better job."

That's reality all right.

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