More than 200 students from Lansdowne High School in Baltimore County will get a dose of financial reality when they participate in a Reality Fair sponsored by SECU – Maryland’s largest credit union – First Financial Credit Union, and the Maryland-DC Credit Union Association.
To be held at SECU Arena (7500 Osler Drive, Towson, MD) from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 30, the Reality Fair will give students a chance to see how they would manage their own personal finances while balancing the many financial challenges life throws their way.
“The Reality Fair will give student participants an engaging, interactive experience in managing their own money and making smart, informed financial decisions that ultimately will help them once they become adults,” says SECU President and CEO Rod Staatz.
Just like in the real world, students will make decisions that will affect their finances, including where they want to live, what their housing costs will be, what kind of car they can afford, and what kinds of food they should buy each week. They will also have to juggle living within their means with discretionary spending on things like entertainment, pets, gym memberships, and other items that, while nice, are not always practical.
In addition, students will spin the “wheel of life,” which will give them some experience in dealing with unforeseen circumstances – car repairs, job losses, unexpected illness, and so on – that can make it tough to stay on budget.
Volunteers from the credit unions will be on hand throughout the Reality Fair to provide support to the students, and then help them in reviewing their decisions, balancing their budgets, and deciding how they can improve their money management skills.
SECU has a long history of supporting financial education, especially for young people. The financial literacy programs SECU supports include the Howard County Applications and Research Lab (ARL) and Washington High School Millionaire's Clubs; the Maryland Coalition for Financial Literacy; and the Maryland Council on Economic Education.
Over the past year, nearly 500 students from Academy of Finance programs at Lansdowne, Randallstown, Sparrows Point, and Overlea High Schools, as well as Morgan State and Towson Universities, have participated in Reality Fairs. Additional Reality Fairs are being planned throughout the current academic year, with the next Reality Fair scheduled to be held on Friday, February 23 for Towson University students.
Members of the media are invited to attend the Reality Fair and experience its money management skills for themselves. For more information, contact Ray Weiss at 443-451-7144 or visit the SECU website at www.secumd.org.
ABOUT SECU
Founded in Baltimore in 1951, SECU is Maryland’s largest credit union. SECU is ranked among the top 50 credit unions for total assets in the U.S, which total $3.56 billion as of July 2017. Headquartered in Linthicum, MD, SECU has 22 branches in Maryland and thousands of free ATMs. For more information about SECU, visit www.secumd.org.
