IU students to give local middle schoolers taste of 'reality'

With the end of the year and finals rapidly approaching, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is asking IU students to take an afternoon to relax, have some fun and help some middle schoolers learn important lessons in the process.\nFranklin Initiative Reality Stores are calling on IU students to volunteer for their reality simulations this May. They will need more than 120 workers to fill shifts throughout the day May 5 at Batchelor Middle School, 900 W. Gordon Pike, and May 18 and 19 at Jackson Creek Middle School, 3980 S. Sare Road.\nThe programs are organized by the Franklin Initiative, a subsidiary of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and have worked with Monroe County middle schools in the past. Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator for The Franklin Initiative Erica Lynn De Santis said she believes the program teaches children the value of education and sound decision-making.\n"We hope to teach students at a young age to learn basic skills in financial planning, goal setting and career planning," De Santis said. \nBefore the activity, students are asked to decide how far they will pursue their educational career. Based on that data, teachers provide students with one month's salary of a 28-year-old with that degree. In addition to deciding their educational future, students also choose whether or not they are married, and if they have children. Then, students are given a fictional checking account to cover one month's worth of living expenses. \nVolunteers man 15 stations including the bank, groceries, housing and insurance. Students have to negotiate with volunteers and students with less education often find themselves taking on another job. \n"Students quickly see the correlation between the money an occupation earns and the lifestyle choices it can offer," said Principal of Batchelor Creek Middle School Peggy Chambers. \nEdgewood Junior High School played host to a reality store earlier this year, and counselor Joan Stierwalt said she was excited about the results. She said students not only learned the importance of pursuing higher education, but they also gained a greater appreciation for what their parents go through every day to provide for their families. Frank Dunn, another counselor at Edgewood said the reaction from students was positive. \n"This was by far their favorite activity all year," Dunn said. \nThe Franklin Initiative is looking to the IU community to provide volunteer support for the program. Despite the fact that the reality store will be in an educational setting, De Santis said they are happy to accept students from all fields of study. \n"Volunteers need not have any kind of special skills or backgrounds," De Santis said. \nIn fact, volunteers from local businesses make up a large chunk of volunteers. All stations come with their own written instructions, and De Santis joked that the only requirement of a volunteer is that they are an adult and able to read. \n"Volunteers have felt in the past that the experience was rewarding and worth their time," Stierwalt said. \nThe middleschoolers are appreciative of the volunteers' time and effort and they enjoy interacting with them, she said. \nTime slots from 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. on May 5 at Batchelor Middle School run, and shifts are not usually more than two hours long. Students would sign up for one shift from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 18 and 19 at Jackson Creek Middle School.\nVolunteers can contact De Santis at 336-6381 or edesantis@chamberbloomington.org. \n"We are excited to accept volunteers from the IU student body," De Santis said. "We hope anyone who is willing to have fun helping out will lend us a hand." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Pat Giese at pgiese@indiana.edu.