Acquiring the skills necessary to succeed financially is important to anyone who finds themselves responsible for paying bills and financing their living expenses. 

On March 6 the junior and senior classes at Wiscasset High School were given the opportunity to participate in the “Financial Fitness Fair” sponsored by Maine's Credit Unions, which include Five County, Atlantic Regional, Lisbon Community Federal, Midcoast Federal, Down East, TRICORP Federal and the Maine Credit Union League & Synergent. 

"We appreciate Maine's credit unions helping our students see the direct connection between their education and their future salaries. It gets kids planning for their futures, which I hope translates into good decision making," said WHS Guidance Counselor Shaye Paradis.

Wiscasset was the third high school in the state to participate in the program. 

"We need to do all we can to help our students understand the realities facing them after high school and the important role that education plays in successfully navigating those realities," said WHS Principal Deb Taylor.

Students were provided individual folders with all the necessary information they needed to figure out how to correctly use the money they would make in a given "job." Students had previously been asked which career they thought they would like to pursue. 

There were booths set up in the gym which represented all aspects of financial stability: housing, transportation, food, savings, clothing, fun/entertainment, credit, education and even home furnishings.

Students visited each booth to gather information to calculate exactly what they would need. Armed with the salary assigned to them by their career choice, students had to decide whether they could afford to live at certain lifestyle levels which were dictated by those "salaries." 

The desired outcome was that students would have a monetary balance after all expenses were taken care of. To add a dose of reality throughout the fair, a whistle would go off announcing one kind or another financial "curve ball" such as the need to pay to repair a broken down car or an unforeseen medical expense.

After completing the hands-on "Financial Fitness Fair," Sarah Hanley, a junior at WHS, said, "It was great! It gave us a real life perspective of what we will need to pay for when we are on our own!”

Students left the sponsored "Financial Fitness Fair" with a new understanding of the financial issues they will inevitably face when they step into adulthood in the very near future.