“Today, you received your first paycheck… Now what?”

As Ocean City Elementary School 2nd Graders filed into the school’s gymnasium on Monday, October 15, they continued learning about paying taxes as part of Leadership Day put on by the Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore.

Throughout the day, students learned the basic ins and outs of paying taxes in their classrooms. At 12:30pm, students, teachers, and government officials gathered to continue the lesson. Mayor of Ocean City Rick Meehan welcomed the students and invited the Comptroller of Maryland, Peter Franchot, to run the taxpaying exercise. Meehan referred to Franchot as “The Tax Man.”

At the podium, he was also surrounded by various state officials and community members such as the State Attorney, Chief of Police, Ocean City Elementary School Principal, and others. A few kids played the roles of tax collector throughout the day and brought the money they’d collected up to Franchot. They then all acted out the distribution of where all these taxes go, portioning out the money to the various officials and representatives.

In explaining the role of taxes throughout their lifetime, Franchot started to say, “When you grow up, get married, and have kids…” which brought giggles and laughter from the crowd of 2nd Graders. The students were attentive and eager to learn throughout the entire event!

Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore offers volunteer-delivered programs for kindergarten through 12th-grade levels. According to their website, they foster “work-readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship skills, and use experiential learning to inspire students to own their economic success; plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.”

The Junior Achievement Leadership Day event was sponsored by Deeley Insurance Group.