Youth from throughout Lawrence County will be participating at an event February 19th at the Lawrence County High School gymnasium. The “Your Money, Your Life” event is a real-life financial literacy simulation that helps young people understand the financial responsibilities they will face as they earn a living. Youth will be given a salary and a family situation, and then asked to spend their money responsibly, be it finding a bank, a place to live, pay utilities, insurance and more. The Your Money, Your Life event provides the youth the opportunity to make financial decisions, and participants have to think critically about how each decision might impact their family.
However, to make this event a success, we need volunteers to staff the booths where the students will spend their “paychecks”. There are booths for Real Estate, Auto Dealer, Groceries, Clothing Store, Utilities, Insurance, Entertainment, Daycare, Charity and more. Volunteers will have great experience; we have volunteers who ask us when the event occurs each year. After participating in this event, both volunteers and youth come away more knowledgeable. Marsha Terry (4-H Program Assistant) and Kaci Quails (Career Coach Lawrence County) both believe the exposure to this financial decision event helps youth to see how their career choices impact their lives.
