UGA Cooperative Extension is a collaboration between UGA CAES and UGA FACS.
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Our Impact
Most teens say they need to know more about financial issues, but the topic is often neglected at home. DeKalb County 4-H focuses on educating youth to become financially independent by offering Reality Check, Campus Reality, Your Money Your Future, Real Money Real World and Money Smarts curriculums to 4-12 grade students. DeKalb County 4-H program partnered with the DeKalb County Independent Living Program, DeKalb Parks and Recreation, DeKalb County Schools and the DeKalb Youth Commissioners to develop programs that focus on educating youth, and help participants use financial and career planning strategies to set goals for their lives. In 2012 Reality Check and Campus Reality, two-hour “real life” simulations for high school students, were conducted for participants of three workshops. Thirty-eight volunteers were trained to staff “storefronts” and volunteered 118 hours. At the completion of the simulations participants indicated 88 percent saw a relationship between level of education and their future; 95 percent indicated they would plan for unexpected costs; 97 percent indicated increased knowledge about budgeting money and making wise financial choices, and 94 percent indicated the information was very helpful in making decisions about careers, values and the expense of having children. Said one student, “I learned how life can be based on your level of education.”
