Highschoolers experience ‘Your Money, Your Life’
Published 2:19 am Friday, April 26, 2024
Luverne High School seniors participate in a simulation focused on helping them make financial decisions. Pictured are (left to right) Luverne High School (LHS) principal Michael Kilpatrick and LHS students Nate Harper, Jose Vasquez and Dee Smith.
Highland Home School (HHS) seniors learn about budgeting and setting financial priorities from Crenshaw County Extension Coordinator Amanda Evans. Pictured are (left to right) Evans and HHS students Austin Norman, Brice McKenzie and Lane Duett and (back row, left to right) Logan Taylor and Ally McElwain.
Brantley High School (BHS) students move through a role-playing simulation. Pictured are(from left to right) BHS seniors Marley Kate Kilcrease and Alyviah Tyet Stoutamire with Kathy Plowden Smyth, rural workforce coordinator at Southeast Alabama Works.
By Haley Mitchell Godwin
“Your Money, Your Life,” a program sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension, is a financial simulation for teenagers aimed at helping them understand the financial responsibilities they will face in “the real world.” Students from all three Crenshaw County Public Schools participated in the engaging and fun simulation at their respective schools.
Students were assigned an occupation and given a salary, then had to pay taxes and see how far their money would go toward housing, transportation, groceries and more.
Community partners volunteering as “vendors” to make the Brantley School event possible were Jammie Odom with Overflow Cafe, Kathy Smyth from Southeast AlabamaWorks, Payton Burnett and Stephen Walker with Brantley Bank and Trust, Brent Mitchell from the Brantley Housing Authority, Cody Nichols with the Crenshaw Career Academy and Probate Judge Will Tate alongside Kris Odom and Nathan Lowe from Crenshaw County Schools.
“Vendors” at the Highland Home School event were Paul and Kate Foreman, Tom and Ginger Jatko, Thomas and Leah Marie Christopher, Leah’s FlowerShop, Kris Odom, National Guard Recruiters Sergeants Crawford and Edwards and Brenda Herring from First Citizens Bank.
Community volunteers playing the role of “vendor” at the Luverne School event were First Baptist Church of Luverne pastor Clay Crum, Dennis Crowe with Kilgro & Associates, Inc., Nickie Morrell and Melyssa Best with Crenshaw Community Hospital, Virginia Beasley from Trendsetters, Beverly Sport and Kris Odom with Crenshaw County Schools, National Guard Recruiters Sergeants Crawford and Edwards, Chase Johnson and Steve Sanders with First Citizens Bank Luverne and Candice McManigle from the Luverne Housing Authority.
