The annual event is linked to the school’s career preparation and personal finance program
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About 80 Bourne High School Juniors participated in a Credit for Life Fair last week. (Photo courtesy of Bourne Public Schools) -
About 80 Bourne High School Juniors participated in a Credit for Life Fair last week. (Photo courtesy of Bourne Public Schools)
BOURNE – Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou and Principal Amy Cetner are happy to announce that Bourne High School hosted a successful event last week aimed at teaching students about fiscal expectations and responsibility.
On Friday, December 10, approximately 80 students participated in the Credit for Life Fair in the cafeteria of Bourne High School. The event is held annually for the entire Grade 11 BHS class. The fair seeks to give students a “reality check” over how much money they would realistically work with if they pursued their chosen career path.
While the school has been running the fair for many years, more recently it has become linked to the high school career preparation and personal finance program that all sophomore and graduate students take respectively.
Based on the salary associated with their chosen profession, salon students are tasked with budgeting for actual expenses, such as accommodation, transportation, education, insurance, and more. They are given checking and savings accounts, as well as a credit card, and also face real-life contextual scenarios along the way, such as winning the lottery or being the victim of identity theft.
After the students have completed all of the sections, they discuss their financial situation with a volunteer to see how well they have done.
The Credit for Life Fair is sponsored and managed by Cape Cod Bank 5. The school works closely with Jim Curran and Michelle Mahoney of CC5 each year to plan and run the event.
Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CC5 took the event and turned it into an interactive online portal, and the school continued with that model again this year. Students brought their Chromebooks and signed in to the portal (available here) at the start of the event. They choose an avatar and a profession on their computer to guide them through the fair.
“This event certainly serves as an opening for many students, with the number of different factors that go into a budget and how far or not a salary can go,” said guidance counselor Kimberly Iannucci, who helped planning the event. “And it also gives them an introduction / repetition of the things they learn in their personal finance class. We would like to thank Cape Cod Bank 5 for their continued support, including sending out many helpful volunteers who work with our students and give them concrete advice and feedback.
All second year students at Bourne High School are required to complete the Career Preparation Course, in which they learn about various career paths, resume writing, the job interview process, and more. . Juniors must then take the Personal Finance course, which teaches household budgeting, long-term financial planning and decision-making, and investing for retirement.
“Through these courses, there is a concerted effort to ensure that our students not only receive the tools they need to be successful in school, but also after they graduate and step into the real world,” said Director Cetner. “The Credit for Life fair is a prime example of our comprehensive Career Pathways initiative, which aims to prepare students for their life after BHS, whether it’s entering the workforce or going into a career. two or four year college. “
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