4-H aims to engage youth through hands-on experiences in order to build life skills. The 4-H It’s Your Reality (Reality Store) Curriculum focuses on engaging teens in real life budgeting scenarios. Each student is given an occupation with a salary, determine if they have a spouse, their spouse’s career, and how many children they have. In the orientation, they learn about the importance of taxes and how to deduct those from their household income. Students then have the responsibility of purchasing needs and wants in accordance to their budget. Some fall on hard times and have to get additional jobs for income. 

   All 8th and 10th graders in our county participate in the It’s Your Reality 4-H school enrichment program. These students are choosing career clusters and are becoming college and career ready. We are hopeful that this program has a long-term impact on their career focus.

   According to their 2021 evaluations, 91% of students reported an increase in their level of understanding on budgeting their own money. 77% reported that they have a better understanding on the link between their career choice and their lifestyle. In the short-term, we know that because of this program, students have a better understanding of how career choices and money management decisions impact their financial security in years to come and we hope to see a long-term impact on these students.

   42 students complete the Dollars and Sense program as 5^th graders, completed the Reality Store as 8^th graders and again completed the Reality Store as 10^th graders. 97% reported an increase in their level of understanding on budgeting their own money. 97% of this group reported that they have a better understanding on the link between their career choice and their lifestyle. We are beginning to see a long-term change in this group of students.