According to a study completed by the Junior Achievement Organization, more than half (54%) of teens to say they feel unprepared to finance their futures according to new research from Junior Achievement and Citizens (2022). This year, Clark County 4-H Agents brought the 4-H Reality Store program to all 8th grade students at Robert D. Campbell Junior High School, giving nearly 400 youth a powerful lesson in real-life money management.

Through a series of engaging lessons, students learned essential financial concepts including:

• Creating and managing a budget
• Understanding needs versus wants
• Mortgages and loans
• How credit works
• Check writing 

The program culminated in a Reality Store simulation, where students were assigned realistic life scenarios complete with marital status, number of children, and salary. They then moved through the interactive stores ran by over 20 community partners and volunteers, making decisions about housing, transportation, food, childcare, clothing, insurance, and other monthly expenses.

• 100% of students indicated they learned something about managing money
• 82% of students were surprised by the sheer number of expenses involved in daily life and adulthood
• 100% of the volunteers felt the program had a positive impact on participants understanding of personal finances

398 8th grade students participated in this program (215 male, 183 female)

47 Hispanic

2 American Indian

5 Asian

23 Black

297 White (non-Hispanic)

24 identifying as two or more races