20
Wisconsin Community Banker
March/April 2014
Students Learn Financial Literacy
with MyLIFE
Mary Lou Santovec
C
an I really afford that new
smartphone? Some 225 seniors at
Union Grove High School now know
whether or not they can—thanks to
a program offered by Community
State Bank. Another 225 freshmen,
sophomores, and juniors at Shoreland
Lutheran High School in Somers
will find out this year, also thanks
to MyLIFE (My Local Interactive
Financial Education).
The bank-designed and branded
program is intended to “change the
way students see their future by
placing them in real-life situations,
making real-life decisions, and show-
ing them how those decisions impact
their personal financial position,” said
Jeff Nielsen, assistant vice president
and marketing director, at the Union
Grove bank.
The program began in 2013 with
juniors at the local high school. Each
student chose a career path, number
of years of college, and the number of
pets. From there, they were randomly
assigned a “life” that included mari-
tal status, credit score, annual salary,
health insurance, children, child sup-
port if applicable, and student loan
and credit card debt, if applicable.
Once they had their “biographies,”
they entered the high school gym,
which was filled with stations staffed
by volunteers from area businesses
and nonprofits. The students visited
each station, attempting to build a
financial life based on their wants and
needs. For example, one junior, Jacob
Noll, found himself as a divorced
father of three who was struggling to
pay his bills with income as a full-time
firefighter.
Noll was required to manage a
monthly budget on his firefighter’s
salary. The budget assigned costs for
housing, insurance, groceries, trans-
portation, child support, automobile
expenses, even health emergencies
and other unexpected expenses.
During the simulation, some
students suddenly received a ticket
from the local sergeant for “texting
and driving.” A nurse walked up to
another student, assigned an illness,
and asked about health insurance
coverage.
Students had to stop and get a
stamp at each station whether or not
the topic applied to their assigned
situation. A Help Desk walked them
through solutions if they suddenly
found themselves with more month
than money.
With its 24 business and civic
partners and 55 volunteers from the
school, the bank, and the surrounding
community, the MyLIFE program was
more than beneficial to the students,
