Troy pupils get a feel for ‘life’ during visit to Edison college

PIQUA — Pupils from Van Cleve Elementary School students in Troy got an eye-popping taste of reality when they traveled to Edison Community College on Dec. 14. They learned that managing your life well is about making the right choices about your education, career and spending.

The 325 sixth-graders had randomly been assigned a career and family situation (children, etc.) and given a monthly salary based on that career. Using a curriculum called ‘‘Real Money, Real World’’ provided by the Miami County branch of the OSU Cooperative Extension Office, instructors from Edison met four times with the students prior to Dec. 14 to prepare them for a simulation dealing with their assigned finances. The students learned about gross and net pay and various deductions, like taxes, Social Security and health insurance, said Linda Bozick, a counselor at Van Cleve Sixth Grade.