Great Falls students got a dose of the real world this week.

During the reality fairs held at C.M. Russell and Great Falls High School on Jan. 8-9, they were assigned a fictional life scenario, with a job, a set wage, possibly a spouse or children, and had to make their budgets balance for three months.

The event was organized by Great Falls Public Schools, United Way and Bravera Bank.

Kim Skornogoski said they hadn’t organized a reality fair since pre-COVID days and the team did significant research to update the costs of basic necessities. Even for the organizers, it was notable how much many of those costs had increase, Skornogoski said.

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The students were assigned jobs such as physician assistant, firefighter, welder, teacher, carpenter, among many other options.

Their budget worksheets detailed their monthly and annually earnings and whether they had a spouse or children.

Starting with their budget worksheet, the students made their way around the old gym at Great Falls High on Jan. 9, stopping at stations to get costs for their ideal life, with rent or a mortgage, healthcare, groceries, car payments and insurance, gas, internet, cellphone, childcare, student loans and more.

Inputting their costs for the first month, they worked to make their budgets balance, and spun the wheel of chance.

The wheel dishes out unexpected things, both good and bad, such a car accident requiring the student to pay their insurance deductible, buying a concert ticket to their favorite band, getting a promotion but needing better clothes for the job, a doctor copay, or a one-time bonus, among others.

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The students have to factor those costs and adjust their budget as needed for the next month.

In some cases, they downgraded or upgraded their vehicle, changing their gas costs. For some, they needed to switch to a bus pass to cut costs, but had to consider transporting children or getting to work.

When money got tight, they could visit their reality coach, which were community volunteers, for some options such as getting a second job or seeking assistance programs such as Section 8 housing vouchers or reduced utility costs.

Students could also negotiate in some cases to lower costs or get coupons or benefits for groceries.

They might also get the option of a credit card from their reality coach, but then they also learn the realities of debt, Skornogoski said.

One student came back to the gas table needing to downgrade his vehicle because he had “crippling debt” on his budget worksheet. That debt had gone from $150 to $1,000, he said, factoring in all his fictional expenses.

Quinten Leritz, a senior at GFH, said he didn’t have a high wage job, so it was tough to balance his budget.

“You can learn a lot from this. It was eye opening,” he said.

Asked the most surprising costs, Leritz said healthcare.

“I thought it was a lot cheaper,” he said.

Over the two days of the event at both schools, 300 students participated in the exercise, Skornogoski said.

Paris Gibson Education Center students participated in the fair at GFHS.

The event included a mix of grade levels for students in the existing financial literacy elective class, she said.

Beginning with the sophomores, the financial literacy class will be a graduation requirement.

Earlier this year, the GFPS school board adjusted the course to meet new state requirements.

Skornogoski, also a school board member, said the shift didn’t cost the district anyway since the class had been part of the curriculum for about 15 years already.

Becky Timmons of the Montana Credit Union said that reality fairs have been a credit union program through the Montana Credit Union League and they offer a form of the fair with middle school students.

She said budgeting is an important skill.

Timmons was volunteering as a reality coach at GFHS on Jan. 9.

“We’re hoping that sinks in and they get that foundational experience of balancing a budget,” she said.