Reality 101 was held at the Waukon High School on March 7 for all the senior high school students in the Lansing, Monona, Postville and Waukon schools. This was the first time the event has been offered since it was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID. Approximately 175 students participated, visiting the 20-plus stations representing different monthly living expenses. The students chose a career and received a simulated paycheck worth one month of income, then paid taxes, opened a banking account, found a place to live and a vehicle to drive, then continued to visit all of the stations to pay their monthly expenses. After making all these choices and paying all their bills, the students had to be sure their budget was balanced with at least a small profit by the end of the month.
Reality 101 was introduced in 2004 by Cheryl Livingston, who was then a personal banking officer and marketing coordinator at Citizens State Bank in Waukon and Postville. After Livingston became a paramedic and began her new career at Veterans Memorial Hospital, she brought the program with her.
“This program teaches so many practical life concepts involving financial choices,” Livingston said. “It provides the students an opportunity to test drive their chosen career’s income with a month of expenses, allowing them to see what they would actually be able to live like as a 25 year old. Over the years I’ve had students come to me to say they changed their career path because Reality 101 made them realize they wouldn’t have enough money to live how they wanted to with a particular career.”
Livingston has coordinated the event for Veterans
Memorial Hospital since 2007 but, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Reality 101 had to be cancelled. Due to staffing constraints and the demand for Livingston’s time working in the ER and with EMS education, the hospital was not able to host the event for several years.
“Reality 101 is such an important life lesson for the students before they graduate, and we knew it was an experience that needed to be offered to area students again. Since the basis of Reality 101 is a financial program, it only made sense to reach out to the four banks in Waukon to see if they would team up to host this event once again,” Livingston said. “They all said yes and did an amazing job working together to make it happen. We were very excited that all four schools sent all of their seniors to participate. These students were very engaged and professional while participating in the event, which allowed them to learn some great life lessons.”
Kelly Mudderman of Freedom Bank, Elisha Marti of Kerndt Brothers Bank, Lesa Moose of Peoples State Bank and Mason McMillan of Waukon State Bank all teamed up, tackling the numerous parts of this program and pulling off what organizers called a great event. Waukon High School Guidance Counselor Amy Wasson also helped coordinate and host the event.
“These five took the program and worked hard to understand how it all worked and really pulled off an impressive event,” Livingston said. “We are so thankful for their dedication.”
More than 80 volunteers and business representatives from the area played the various roles making this event as real as possible.
“More than 20 years ago, Reality 101 was a pipe dream that I would have never imagined could grow to the event it is now, with so much community and school district support,” Livingston said. “I very much appreciate all the dedicated volunteers who have helped make Reality 101 a success over the years. It was nostalgic walking around seeing many of the original volunteers working their magic, remembering years past and knowing that Reality 101 would be carried on in great hands for years to come.”
Reality 101 was held on Friday, March 7 for all senior high school students from Lansing, Monona, Postville and Waukon Schools. The event was hosted at the at the Waukon High School. More than 175 students visited the 20-plus stations, which were manned by more than 80 volunteers from the community, as students tried to balance their budget with one month’s income, giving them what organizers called a good dose of reality when it came to financial responsibility. (Photo submitted)
“It provides the students an opportunity to test drive their chosen career’s income with a month of expenses, allowing them to see what they would actually be able to live like...”– - Cheryl Livingston, Realty 101 coordinator
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