Students participate in CU 4 Reality Fair

A Kaiserslautern Middle School seventh grade student spins the wheel to find out if he will lose money due to a car accident or win an inheritance during the CU 4 Reality Fair held in the school's gymnasium, Vogelweh Military Complex, Germany, April 30, 2009. Activities like this one taught students how to manage their money responsibly and save up for future incidents that could occur. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Amanda Dick)(Released)

Students participate in CU 4 Reality Fair

Alisha Feliciano, Vogelweh Military Complex Defense Commissary Agency administrative technician, fills out the amount of money it will cost a student for groceries per month during the CU 4 Reality Fair held at the Kaiserslautern Middle School's gymnasium, Vogelweh Military Complex, Germany, April 30, 2009. The fair taught students how to budget their monthly income based on their chosen career field. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Amanda Dick)(Released)

Students participate in CU 4 Reality Fair

Kaiserslautern Middle School seventh graders receive their budgeting and planning files before entering the school's gymnasium, Vogelweh Military Complex, Germany, April 30, 2009. Students participated in the CU 4 Reality Fair which taught them how to manage finances. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Amanda Dick)(Released)

Students participate in CU 4 Reality Fair

U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Alfred Wilhite, 2nd Air Postal Squadron postal operations superintendent, helps a Kaiserslautern Middle School seventh grader calculate his monthly expenses during the CU 4 Reality Fair held in the school's gymnasium, Vogelweh Military Complex, Germany, April 30, 2009. The fair taught students how to budget and calculate earnings and expenses. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Amanda Dick)

Seventh graders learn financial responsibility at CU 4 Reality Fair

Published May 11, 2009
By Senior Airman Amanda Dick
Ramstein Public Affairs

VOGELWEH MILITARY COMPLEX, Germany -- Students from Kaiserslautern Middle School attended a CU 4 Reality Fair April 30 at the school's gymnasium on Vogelweh Military Complex, Germany, to learn how to handle finances responsibly.

Hosted by Service Credit Union and Department of Defense Dependent Schools Europe, the fair taught seventh graders how to manage finances by budgeting and calculating earnings and expenses in a simulated real-world environment.

"I want them to know what real life is about and I want them to know they can pick a profession, but then they have to be able to live within their means," said Peggy Hess, KMS math teacher. "There are expenses they have to consider and deal with. So, I really want them to learn to budget, to know how much money they have and how much they can save."

More than 150 seventh graders participated in the event, visiting several booths that represented real-life expenses and budgeting those expenses based off monthly incomes.

"Students are coming in with a career they have chosen themselves and using that income to do a budget," said Frances Cartwright-Graeber, a Service Credit Union manager. "They have to go to housing, utilities, transportation, insurance, food and clothing to figure out what they can afford with that career."

Students were able to walk around and learn first-hand how take care of their money.

"You learn to pay your bills and save money," said Raven Camarce, art teacher for a day and daughter of Tech. Sgt. Romeo Camarce, NATO Headquarters.

Students also learned to prepare for future possibilities of money loss or gain.

"They're teaching us for the future," said a seventh grader from KMS. "Things like what will happen in a car crash or if we get scholarships."

The fair is part of the CU 4 Reality Program, a program which combines in-class curriculum throughout the year, culminating with the fair.

The program was developed by the Financial Literacy Education Committee of America's Credit Union Museum and the New Hampshire Credit Union League.