Life 101 Students get “Married”

Life 101 is a project that all 8th grade students at Parkview participate in. The project encompasses all subjects with every subject having specific tasks. In their math classes, students must create balanced budgets for ages 24 through 33. In order to do this, they must make a grocery list and household item list based on a week’s meal plan, choose a used car and finance it, calculate student loans, rent an apartment, find how much their gas will cost by using a Google map from their apartment to their job, shop for internet, a cell phone plan, and cable. Students also have to write out checks for a month’s worth of bills, write a deposit slip for their paycheck, and balance a check register. At age 27, they get “married” and create a married budget. Together spouses have to decide if they will get optional insurances, have children, and have pets. They will also have to decide how much to put aside each month to go out to eat and how much to spend on gifts for others. Married couples will also go through the process of buying a house together at age 33. They will get a mortgage loan, budget for property taxes, and even calculate their utilities cost. This is a great opportunity for students to see how much everything will cost in real life and stay in budget. Most of the time, it helps them appreciate their parents even more.
Recently in Mrs. LeBlanc’s classes, the boys each drew a girl’s name from a bag to see who their wife would be. The girls did not know who their husbands would be until Thursday when the boys proposed in class. Everyone had a great time!