Peggy M. Himburg

Scottsboro City School faculty and staff participated in a Poverty Simulation upon their return to school this month.  

“This simulation is important because approximately 60% of our district’s students currently live below the poverty line, and those numbers of families are on the rise,” said Scottsboro Superintendent Amy Childress.

  Alabama has been identified as the sixth poorest state in the nation, and this simulation was designed to bring awareness to the impact of poverty within our schools and communities.  It was facilitated by the Alabama Association of School Boards with Ava Cranmore as the presenter.

  The simulation is a highly interactive experience designed to help participants understand what a typical low-income family experiences from month to month. Participants were divided into families with each person playing a role within the family.  They had to decide how to get the services they need such as keeping the utilities on, keeping the home secure, providing adequate food, making general household payments including rent, and getting the children to work and the parents to work.  Each family has to decide how to make their money last through the month.

  Spread out around the room were the different services the families need including a place to sign up for employment.  These included day care, homeless help, the utility company, mortgage and realty, social services, bank, school, and the grocery store.  They could also visit the pawn shop and the pay day advance office if they had needs these two could fill.  A police officer was also on duty for the communities.  For the simulation these services were provided by community volunteers

  As in real life, the participants had to apply for a job.  They had to wait many times to check on the services their family needed.  They had to figure out a way to get the children to school and the parents to work because often they had no personal transportation.

  As the participants studied their families and its needs at the beginning, they encountered some of the problems that those living in poverty face.  There might be a family member with a chronic illness or with no money to put food on the table.  The simulation is designed to show participants the daily stresses and challenges that people in poverty face.  They were able to see how the services people need are spread out in the community which makes it difficult for those without their own transportation.

  Childress said that the number of children living in poverty locally has almost doubled. “Our system and school goals are centered around supporting the whole needs of our students through the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework by the Alabama State Department of Education,” she added.  “This exercise is an opportunity to collaborate with partners throughout the community, region, and state to continue to seek resources to address identified needs.  We are grateful for a supportive community which does so very much to help Scottsboro City Schools provide and support the many needed layers of support that help all students thrive.”