More than 150 CVUSD high school students completed a financial literacy program Bite of Reality® at a special event hosted by Logix Federal Credit Union, and led by Logix employee volunteers, at Sports Academy on Thursday, February 7th.
Students from Thousand Oaks High School’s ETHOS Entrepreneurship Academy, Newbury Park High School’s DATA – Technology Academy, Westlake High School’s Careers class and Conejo Valley High School attended the annual event where they spent the morning learning about how to carefully spend and budget in the future.
Bite of Reality is an exercise that simulates a real-life experience, by way of an app, complete with financial decisions, bills, and even credit scores.
Employee volunteers helped students during their “shopping” experience. During this time, students had to carefully budget, as they visited eight stations where they shopped for household items, groceries, transportation, housing and more. When the app sent an alert that a bill payment was due, or if they overspent, students visited the credit union. There, they learned how they could continue – perhaps by returning an item or limiting spending. Teachers, teens and volunteers alike enjoyed the experience.
“Our students were engaged and asked good questions following this field trip. Logix continues to be an amazing partner,” said Ashley Cooper, who is a Career Education Coordinator, ETHOS/Majors Program/CTE Pathways. “This financial literacy exercise for our Conejo Valley USD students reinforces our daily Academy lessons and empowered our students to prepare for their futures.”
Community Relations Specialist Andrea DeLuna organized the event in partnership with Sports Academy, Jersey Mike’s and Oaks Event Rentals.
“This year, with the increase in interest, we were able to work with Sports Academy to host Bite of Reality with the four local high schools. Our goal is to continue to share this program and include more students in the future.”
Hosting more than 150 teens was an outstanding opportunity for Logix staff – many of them said they are looking forward to welcoming next year’s classes from local high schools.
“We want to support our community – especially our youth. When we can give them the tools they need to make good decisions, they will be prepared to review the choices that will be put in front of them,” Westlake Branch Manager Kelly Fitzpatrick said.
The CVUSD is so grateful for community partners like Logix that go above and beyond to support our students and school communities!
