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PROGRAMS
Eighth Grade
Essay Contest
One of the primary goals of the Indiana BPW
Foundation and especially the Conni Richards Youth Fund, established by
the Board in January of 1992 in memory of Conni Richards, is to have
teens take a proactive role with regard to their futures. One way
to help the young is through the essay contest
One essay is chosen from each of BPW/Indiana's
7 Districts. Each of the 7 winners and her/his
parent(s)/guardian(s) and teacher will attend a luncheon at the BPW/IN
State Convention. The
top 3 winners in the State of Indiana will receive savings bonds.
Essay speech topic for 2006-2007
is “What
goals do I have for my future and how do I plan to achieve them?”
Download Application Here
Reality StoreTM
Reality StoreTM is a simulated learning experience in
household money management.
| Purpose |
The goals of the Reality StoreTM program are:
- To help all students learn basic skills in financial
planning, goal setting, decision making and career planning.
- To clarify the need for young women and men to examine
their attitudes about their futures and their career
expectations.
- To motivate students to stay in school, stay away from
drugs, and avoid pregnancy.
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| Background |
The Reality StoreTM is part of the Women Helping Girls with
Choices [WHGWC] projects which BPW/Indiana sponsors throughout
the State of Indiana. The WHGWC project all started the
day a young single mother came to the Girls Club in Santa
Barbara, California in tears because she couldn't afford to pay
her rent and feed her2 children properly. "Why didn't
someone tell me what it would be like when I grew up?" she
cried. Her question made real what we already knew, at
least in an abstract sense: that millions of mothers and
children in this country are living in or near poverty. The
national program of WHGWC grew out of 1984 collaboration between
Girls Clubs of America and BPW of Nashua, New Hampshire.
In 1987, a second - and more ambitious - pilot program was
designed. This one involved 10 states and 127 local
projects, with a collective goal of serving 10,000 girls and
young women.
In May, 1990 at our annual state convention in Fort Wayne,
BPW/Indiana made a commitment to introduce this program to the
young women of our state.
In addition to state sponsored projects, local BPW
organizations have been actively initiating Choices projects all
across the state.
Many Reality StoresTM and WHGWC projects are
funded with help from local community grants through the Indiana
BPW Foundation.
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| The Need |
Between the ages of 14 and 20, young women and men make
critical decisions that affect the course of their whole lives;
decisions about educational paths, career options, lifetime
mates, and family timing. They ought to make these
critical decisions with knowledge and a sophisticated attitude
about the realities and options for their futures. |
| The Answer |
At the Reality StoreTM, students will be able to
select an occupation they think they would like to have as a 28
year old adult. They will then be given an amount of
"play" money equivalent to the average monthly salary in that
occupation. The students will then go into a Reality StoreSM
where they will need to spend their salary on the necessities
and luxuries they envision as part of their adult lifestyle.
Representatives from the housing industry, utilities, grocery
stores, department stores, financial institutions, auto
dealerships, medical profession, child care centers, travel and
entertainment industry, etc. will be present to help the
students determine how much of their income will need to be
spent in each category in order to provide them with their
desired lifestyle. The goal of this exercise is to help
students learn whether their selected occupation will provide
the financial resources needed to provide the type of lifestyle
they want.
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BPW/IN
Reality StoreTM
manuals are available free of charge to schools within the state of
Indiana by requesting one from the BPW/IN State Office, PO Box 33,
Knightstown, IN 46148 - phone number 765-345-9812 or email at
bpwin@msn.com
BPW/IN
Reality StoreTM
manuals are available to schools outside the State of
Indiana for a charge of $35 which
includes shipping. A check for $35 needs to be sent to BPW/IN,
PO Box 33, Knightstown,
IN 46148.
Check out the
web site at the
Learn More
Resource Center
[Indiana’s
Pre-K to College Connection]
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