Valley Vista High School Students Learn about Financial Fitness

Nearly 300 Valley Vista High School students took part in Financial Fitness in Action (FFA) recently, an educational exercise where students participate in an engaging, real-world simulation of saving, spending, and budgeting.  The program was open to students enrolled in Valley Vista’s AP Microeconomics and Economics classes. The Arizona Council on Economic Education (ACEE) provided the educational materials and partnered with school staff and several community volunteers, including banking professionals, to put on the event.

The program is designed to provide students a strong foundation in financial literacy.  Participants are given a worksheet with their assigned career, salary, credit score, and family data.  With that information, students visited a series of decision-making booths staffed by teachers, community volunteers, and banking industry leaders.  Each booth focused on different expenses like housing, insurance, investing, groceries, entertainment, and healthcare.  Students would discuss the best way to use their budget for the given expense, then make their financial decision by filling out that portion of their worksheet.

To illustrate how unexpected events could impact their finances, students were required to visit the Wheel of Life booth.  Here, they spun a virtual Wheel of Life that could result in anything from a flat tire to a generous inheritance.  While some walked away with a little extra spending money, others found themselves re-evaluating their emergency savings goals. 

According to senior student Liv Castro, it was a lesson that underscored the reality of being financially responsible.  “It prepares you for what your future could look like, and it gives you a dose of reality,” she said  “It’s not like when you’re an adult you get money and you just pay your rent and that’s it.  You have a lot of things that go into living!”  

Once the students had completed their worksheets, they met one-on-one with financial advisors who reviewed their budgeting decision to see if they had achieved financial solvency or needed some additional guidance on how to better live within their means.

For senior Damir Ilicic, FFA gave him more realistic expectations.  “I knew you had to pay a whole lot of bills, but I didn’t really know they were this expensive and I had to make this much to break even!”  

Classmate Ryan Sims agreed, “There were some bills that I thought would be a lot worse than what they were, but even then, they still add up.”  

While the exercise can start out feeling like a budgeting bombshell, the students ultimately came away feeling more prepared and confident about the future.

“I think that you have to make a lot of sacrifices,” AP Microeconomics student Janisia Thurston said of her experience.  “It’s kind of nice though, because now that I know, I’m not going to be shocked when I have to pay all these bills and all these expenses.”  She added that she would recommend FFA to other students, “Absolutely, 100 percent.”

Financial Fitness in Action is one of the qualifying events to earn the Arizona Seal of Personal Finance for grades 9-12.  Dysart Schools proudly leads the way with the most seals in the state, touting 748 AZ State Seals of Personal Finance in 2025. 

ACEE prepares teachers to educate students on personal finance, economics, and entrepreneurship.  They distribute proven economic resources to schools free of charge.  It is their goal to empower teachers, community volunteers, and parents in order to support students to become productive and responsible participants in a global economy.