Staff try on poverty simulator for size

Several Lorain City Schools educators participated Dec. 11 in a poverty simulation on what some students and their families go through daily.

The exercise took place at Garfield Elementary School, 200 W. 31st St. in Lorain

“We put people into different scenarios and have them live that life in a simulated month,” said Barry Buck, a counselor at Clearview Middle School of the Clearview Local School District, who conducted the simulation. “We give them a family, so each person will have a different role.

“The families are also different, so some are two people and other groups will be three person families. Each situation will be unique, and the goal is for them to live life for a month, where 15 minutes equals a week, and see where they stand financially after the month is over.”

Buck said the simulation is very thorough.

“We have a job station where the person in a family that has to work, will go and sit for a certain amount of time to simulate employment,” he said. “We also have a pawn shop, police, a homeless shelter and more.

“The money participants are given goes toward the bills people need to pay and how to balance that with the other expenses.”

Buck said he hoped the simulation would open eyes to the struggles of families in the district.

“It creates a very real representation of what people have to deal with on a daily basis,” he said. “I hope they realize why students are limited with transportation and why some students have to do what they do.

“It creates an understanding that will be life changing for the participants that take it seriously.”

Cara Gomez, principal at South Amherst Middle School, participated in a past simulation and volunteered to help run the event at Garfield.

“It’s very powerful,” Gomez said. “You understand why people do what they do. It creates empathy by allowing people to see what life is like on the other side.”

Elizabeth McKinney, a fifth-grade teacher for Lorain Schools, said the simulation was interesting and informative.

“We have been moving around without too much idea of how to go about it,” McKinney said. “There is a lot you need to do, and you are limited in many ways.

“It does a good job of representing everyday life and what the reality is for a lot of families in this area.”

ZACHARY SRNIS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Some Lorain faculty were placed in the homeless shelter section of the simulator and had to find a way of getting a decent income.