Eighth Grade

The PEAK Program sponsors eighth grade early college awareness activities that reach nearly 450 students in all three Newark City School middle school buildings.  Outreach at this grade level focuses on three priorities:  career education, financial literacy and expanding college knowledge.   The main activities are:

• 3C's (College, Careers and Cash). During five lesson plans and using a specially designed workbook, every eighth grader is introduced to the basics of career exploration. One component of this outreach helps students learn to navigate Ohio Means Jobs K-12, a comprehensive on-line resource that offers extensive career and college information. By the end of the programming, students complete several assessments including a career cluster inventory and Reality Check, as well as play "You are The Boss" and "Skills Bingo".
• Reality Store. A financial simulation game in which the students assume an adult identity and for purposes of the game, each is randomly assigned a level of educational attainment, an occupation, monthly earnings and certain life/family characteristics (married, single, children).  Through participating in Reality Store and the two classroom lessons that precede it, students learn some valuable lessons: how to budget, how much it costs to live, that education is highly correlated with earning power, and most importantly, the serious financial consequences of dropping out of high school.