Franklin County Technical School and Franklin First Federal Credit Union recently teamed up to host the second annual Reality Fair to give students a taste of what life could be like once they enter the workforce and start paying their own bills.
At the Fair the students visited 12 tables with volunteers from local businesses, the community, and organizations to talk about everything from the cost of housing, buying clothes, utilities, buying and owning a car, internet/cable, cell phone, and more. The level of affordability was based on their expected entry-level salaries in careers they were assigned randomly.
Besides Franklin First, other volunteers included Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Greenfield Business Association, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and a number of others.
Health Technology students Ella Vassar, of Gill, Madyson Lynde of Halifax, VT, and Ava Garappolo of Bernardston looked over their numbers at the end the event to make sure they didn’t go over budget. All of their fictional assigned jobs were low paying so they had to be very careful in setting their budgets.
Vassar, whose fictional job was a professional line-stander, said besides budgeting for rent, utilities, groceries, and phone she needed to consider other expenses like transportation, entertainment and insurance.
“It’s good to create a budget because some categories are more expensive than others,” she said.
Lynde, who was assigned to be a tutor for her profession, said although she was shock of how expensive essentials can be, her goal would be to plan ahead.
“You have to save as much money as possible and save where you can,” she said. “You really have to think about what you spend your money on.”
In keeping with their limited salaries, Vassar, Lynde and Garappolo couldn’t afford to own cars so they would have to take public transportation to get back and forth from work and other locations. Their budgets only allowed them to buy highly processed foods.
FCTS College and Career Awareness teacher Christa Snyder, who organized the Reality Fair, said the event was an eye-opening experience for students.
“They’re surprised at how much things cost,” she said.
Franklin First President and CEO Michelle Dwyer, who was the main driver behind organizing the fair, said that the students were engaged and polite. This is the second year in a row that Franklin First was involved with the Reality Fair.
“I was very impressed about how honest the students were about the choices they had to make,” Dwyer said. “There’s a big difference in salaries (depending on the assigned occupations). Some of them realized they would need to get part-time jobs to supplement their full-time jobs. The students were fully engaged and asked great questions.”
The Reality Fair wasn’t all business, students were also eligible to win prizes. Trey Gallo and Ray Dyer won iPads, Ricki Perez and Jaeden Graves won swag bags and Carsten Couture and Cooper Kelley each won $10 Dunkin Gift Cards.
The iPads were donated by Franklin First Federal Credit Union; Ms. Snyder donated the swag bags and Dunkin Gift Cards.