Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and Indiana Michigan Power Partner Up for Junior Achievement Finance Park's Utility Room

MERRILLVILLE, Indiana, Feb. 1 -- Northern Indiana Public Service Co., a subsidiary of NiSource, issued the following news release:

NIPSCO and Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) partnered together to support the Junior Achievement's new Finance Park utility room in its Fort Wayne, Ind., headquarters.

This room will serve as an area of education for high schoolers to learn about budgeting and personal finance. Students will be educated on income, saving, investing and risk management, debit and credit budgeting. It features energy saving tips, gas and electric 101, safety and 811 information.

NIPSCO and I&M worked with companies from the banking, insurance, retail and healthcare industries as well as other sectors to help create a budgeting simulation for northern Indiana high schoolers at the new Junior Achievement Finance Park.

"Annually, more than 10,000 northern Indiana high school students will spend time in the NIPSCO/I&M utility room to learn about how to budget for utility bills, save energy at home and stay safe around gas pipes and power lines," said Manager of Public Affairs Dana Berkes. "Junior Achievement Finance Park is a critical financial education opportunity for our Indiana high school students."

A generous donation was made by NIPSCO's meter shop's Field Operations Leader Seth Ziegel and Mechanical Equipment Operator Brad Ryan who installed a meter inside of the utility room for students o examine and learn more from it.

"I believe this is a great idea for the younger generation of kids who need to know how the utilities are fed to our houses and businesses in the local areas," Seth said. "This may open up some ideas for kids who may want to pursue a career in the energy field. This program is a wonderful idea for kids to gain some knowledge and have fun as they learn."

For more information on Junior Achievement, visit their website (https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/junior-achievement-of-northern-indiana/home).