During the 2017-2018 School Year, 1187  students from Mount Washington, Eastside, Bernhiem, Bullitt Lick,Hebron and Zoneton Middle Schools along with participants from Riverside Opportunity Center took part in a financial literacy course and program sponsored by the Bullitt County Extension Office.  

Students had a combination of classroom instruction and a interactive program through the Reality Store curriculum.  The Students learned the importance to budget for a family with variables that often occur such as:  Loss of income, medical bills, school related expenses, etc.  Students are assigned jobs based on their current career field of interest and their grades.  Students also randomly draw for how many children they have for the activity.  The goal of this activity is for the students to balance a budget for their family with some money left for savings.  

After the completion of the reality store the Bullitt County Extension Service does an evaluation of their current stance on budgeting, along with introducing the importance of credit scores for large purchases such as houses, cars and student loans.  The program used in this activity is a game called Night of the Living Debt which was developed by the University of Idaho Extension Program.  

Upon completion of the activities, the following data was collected:

-88% surveyed now have a better appreciation of their families budgeting

-93% had no understanding of the costs associated with having a house before completing the lessons

-95% felt that education is important to their professional success

-58% of the students completing the reality store had a balanced budget

-69% surveyed now have knowledge of credit scores and how they effect them