WARSAW — A group of local Warsaw High School students are learning the cost of  Christmas this year through the classic carol “The 12 Days of Christmas”. 

The group of seniors, taught by Terry Rosenbarger, took part in PNC Bank’s festive economic analysis called the PNC Christmas Price Index. The students determined that if you want to buy that special someone “5 Golden Rings, 4 Calling Birds and 3 French Hens” in 2016 it is going to cost you about 0.7 percent higher than last year. This is the 33rd year of the economic analysis by The PNC Financial Services Group.

The WCHS students researched values for each of the 12 gifts to determine the price and the consumer price index.  How much will it cost you to buy those 12 jolly items this year?  Students with the help of PNC Bank determined that the total price could set you back $34,363.49 in 2016 which is just a slight increase over last year of $232.50 or .07%.   They also determined that although there was a slight increase in the value of the items 8 of the 12 showed no price change in 2016.  This year’s cost of each item was revealed on Dec. 1 on PNC’s interactive website, which features a historical comparison of the pricing data.

This activity capped off a seven week Junior Achievement economics session at Warsaw High School.  Students throughout the seven weeks learned financial concepts such as productivity, quality, marketing, budgeting, supply and demand just to name a few.

JA is a non-profit organization that provides in school, economic education for nearly 7,000 students K-12 in Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley.  Together with local community volunteers and teachers they are educating today’s youth about the basics of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness.  Gifts from local businesses, individuals and foundations enables JA to bring these sound economic values to the classroom encouraging students’ growth to reach their highest potential and in turn impact our community’s economic future.

For more information about Junior Achievement please contact Tyson Baker at (574) 354-9920.