Students at South Middle School in Morgantown participated in a hands-on financial learning experience today thanks to a program by West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue.

Approximately 250 eighth grade students at the school participate in Treasurer Perdue’s award-winning financial education activity Get a Life. Treasurer Perdue was on hand to talk with the students about the importance of financial literacy.

Get a Life is an interactive simulation designed for the State Treasurer’s Office to promote economic literacy. Students are given a realistic family budget and must visit various business stations and manage an expense ledger. The program teaches both basic math skills and problem-solving techniques.

“With programs like the Get a Life activity, I believe students in West Virginia will be better prepared to live and succeed in the real world,” said Treasurer Perdue. “As the State Treasurer of West Virginia, I believe it is my duty to help schools provide meaningful financial education.”

Community volunteers from local businesses helped complete the learning experience by serving as sales people, insurance agents and doctors in the simulated world.

The activity is part of Treasurer Perdue’s NetWorth program, a comprehensive financial education initiative designed to teach personal financial management skills at all grade levels in West Virginia. The program is nationally recognized and has received an Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Award (EIFLE) from the Institute for Financial Literacy.

For more information on Get a Life and other educational resources available through the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, log onto www.wvtreasury.com.