Ravenswood Elementary School to Hold Reality Fair 2011

My cousin will be one of the volunteers on hand when the Reality Fair 2011 takes place on January 14, 2011. My niece attends Ravenswood Elementary, located at 4332 North Paulina Street in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, and she will be participating in the fair. She is so excited about the Reality Fair, because each student gets to choose a career, and they get their "fortunes" read by a fortune teller, who will tell them if they will have a supportive spouse or "dead-beat spouse."

The 7th and 8th graders also get a whole month's salary pertinent to the career that they chose. I think this is an excellent learning experience for the students because it gives them a sample of "real-world" experience, that they otherwise would never get to experience at such as young age. Back when I was in school, the first experience I had with "real-world' finances came when I was in high school and took a General Business class, where I learned how to balance a check book.

The Reality Fair really sets the students up for real-life situations, because if the students misuse the money that they are given from their career choices unwisely, they'll be sent to a "credit counselor" at one of the booths, or they might even go bankrupt! It will be interesting to see what my niece has to say, when at the end of the fair, they all participate in a follow-up discussion.

The students really take the fair seriously, and I remember after last year's fair, my niece started keeping an eye on her finances.

Sources: Personal Experience
Ravenswood Elementary School
http://www.ravenswoodelementary.com/Fairs___Events.html