Reality Check

Awaiting his fate on the “Wheel of Life,” South Putnam eighth-grader Jaxon VanDuyn takes part in Reality Fair Monday at the Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building as Putnam County Jail Commander Shelody Birkemeier looks on. Birkemeier also happens to be VanDuyn’s mom. Multiple community organizations came together to revive to financial literacy program for eighth-grade students after it had been dormant since before the pandemic. Nearly 400 students from the four Putnam County middle schools as well as Eminence took part in the program this year.