Fargo juniors to complete poverty simulation

On Wednesday, from 11:42 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and 1:20 to 2:55 p.m., juniors enrolled in English 3 and AP Language and Composition classes at North High School will take part in a poverty simulation. The simulation is intended to give students a hands-on experience to learn more about poverty.

Each student will be provided various life events to use within the simulation, as well as an income and budget to follow. The simulation is to help students empathize with others their age and in the community that might use the community resources if they experience poverty.  The poverty simulation will connect with the texts Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, Maid by Stephanie Land, Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America by Alissa Quart, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer. Juniors read these books to explore the thematic idea of the American Dream and its attainability. Critical thinking and discussion will surround the questions: What are the hidden pressures for those experiencing poverty? What should be done about wages for people below middle-class incomes? How is the cycle of poverty a part of a system? 

The simulation will be hosted by junior English teachers at North High School, North High School Counseling Department, FPS Homeless Liaisons Jan Anderson and Mary Krueger, and the FM Homeless Coalition executive director Cody Schuler.