High school students face 'real life' during fair
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ST. IGNATIUS — “I am so broke,” lamented 17-year-old Zhanyl Nurbekkyzy, as she was told she needed to buy car insurance.
“But at least I have a good credit score,” she added, walking away, budget in hand, to negotiate insurance payments.
Nurbekkyzy and other students at St. Ignatius High School were faced with the realities of surviving on their own during a “real life” fair that included budgets, career choices and job interviews.
“The goal is to make students aware of what life is like after high school and understand it’s hard to earn a living without a high school diploma,” family and consumer science teacher Terry Cable said. “It’s a little reality therapy.”
In the gymnasium, booths were “selling” insurance, housing and cell phones. Professionals in each field helped students purchase needed items for their mock lives. At the end, the teens were graded on how well they budgeted and performed during their job interviews. There were also booths from Salish Kootenai College, Tribal Health, ROTC and more, in addition to presentations from different professionals in classrooms.
“It’s been a good learning experience,” said Lavinia Camacho, a sales representative for Ronan Telephone Company. “They’ve made some really good decisions, like taking the free phone, but a lot of them have brought their phones back because they said they needed food.”
Camacho said she has two children in high school and thought the day was a good lesson in being responsible and understanding the benefits of a good credit score.
“It would have helped our generation,” she said. “We would have made different choices.”
Sixteen-year-old Dominique Morning Owl thought some of the decision-making was nerve-wracking, especially the job interview, but agreed it was a good learning experience.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Morning Owl said. “Next time I would probably know how to answer (the questions) better.”
