Taylor Kopel, 16, had seen better days.

“I had $1,000, just got a job at the pizza place, and then I got a $2,500 DUI. I can’t get a loan because my credit’s horrible. Now I’m in jail,” Kopel said.

But before Kopel’s parents prepared to call an attorney or picked up the phone for a bail bonding company, they could relax and breathe a sigh of relief — Kopel’s “jail time” was all just a simulation to show him and other John Milledge Academy juniors a taste of post-graduation life.

The students’ experiences were courtesy of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce’s Reality Check, a program designed to show students the importance of staying in school, pursuing a post-high school education, and how having that education can mean the difference between owning a nice home and renting an apartment or even being forced to borrow money from the bank to help pay off a new car.

“It was either sell my house and live on the streets, or leave it all for my family and go to jail, so I chose to go to jail with — $1,500,” Kopel said.

In Kopel’s case, he was making $2,480 a month, and the family that would take care of his house while he spent time behind bars was a wife making $700 a month and a 3-year-old-daughter.

Like Kopel, all 41 JMA juniors participating in the program Thursday received a randomly assigned job that came with a monthly salary, deducted taxes, a net income and, if “married,” a possible spouse’s income that combined with all other figures to provide a total income that would be used for areas such as clothing, food, transportation, insurance, babysitters, dining out, checking and savings accounts, and other real world-related items.

“I think it opens their eyes to the economics of what they’ll have to deal with in the next few years. I think that they sort of have an idea what their parents are doing,” Cissy Lane, chemistry and physics teacher with JMA, said.

John Pittman, 17, learned an expensive lesson about vehicle maintenance when he was caught off guard, and found himself having to budget for his Honda Accord.

Despite making a simulated $2,667 per month, the expenses were still piling up for the unfortunate JMA junior.

“I had to buy a new transmission at $450, and now I’m $250 in the hole. I had to get a second job,” Pittman lamented.

The possibility of unforeseen circumstances such as those are what the Chamber is hoping sinks in for students such as 16-year-old Josh Hartzell, who, as a simulated power line worker making $3,000 a month, married with a working spouse and a 3-year-old child, seemed to be fairing better than some of his fellow classmates.

“It’s been going pretty good. I think the most expensive was the house at $700 a month, but daycare cost me $375,” Pittman said. “I didn’t realize all the things I would have to need. It definitely makes you appreciate what your parents have been doing.”

Those remarks were encouraging comments for JMA economics and history teacher Cindy Nunn, who helped shuffle students from table to table during Thursday morning’s 1 1/2 hour-long event.

“I think it’s great. These kids sometimes show no clue on what it’s going to cost them. They’re really surprised at how little they can be making. A lot of them have said that they thought that they were going to start out making $5,000 to $7,000 a month,” Nunn said.

Volunteer Linda Zarkowsky, who spends most of her time these days as Baldwin County’s finance director, manned the “Back To School” table for the Chamber’s JMA Reality Check — and could easily tell anyone how well the students react, having also assisted with a Reality Check held at Baldwin High School in August.

“I think it’s a good way for the students to learn how life really works, and what they’ve got ahead of them,” Zarkowsky said.

Cole Breiner, 16, hopefully learned that lesson when he was caught off guard by family-related needs.

“I’m single, have one child that’s two years old, and working as an emergency medical technician, but I still had to get another job. Daycare costs a lot. I’ve got to go get a babysitter instead,” Deariso said. “Then I have to go get groceries, and I’m only making $1,746 a month.”

Classmate Garr Ett, 16, shared Deariso’s pain as he worked out his own financial future.

“I’m doing good, but I could be better. I have a wife that doesn’t work and a six-year-old kid. I’ve got two jobs. I’m working as a carpenter by day, and at Checkers burgers at night,” Ett said.

Though Ett’s two jobs were able to keep his simulated paycheck in positive figures, it was still an eye-opener for the JMA junior, according to Rick Umberger, a Georgia Power employee who volunteered at the “Realville Realty” table.

“Some have had to come back and make different decisions once money runs out. It seems like overall that they’re making good decisions,” Umberger said.