Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Awesome resource alert: JA Biztown

Recently read an article about JA Biztown, a project of Junior Achievement that provides 5th graders an opportunity to learn about financial literacy through participating in a mock city.  Students learn about community, currency and how the "real world" works by role-playing:

JA BizTown, a national program operated by the economic education nonprofit Junior Achievement, provides a "day in the life" simulation of a city environment, and is the culmination of a suite of curriculum designed to help fifth-graders learn economic principles from how to balance a checkbook to the importance of saving. 

Each student interviews for a "job" and spends the day performing tasks related to that industry, whether installing phones or interviewing CEOs at the BizTown TV station.

JA Biztown also has a summer program for youth 10-14 years old.  The weeklong camp explores community, financial literacy and business.

In light of current economic situations, this is an incredible opportunity for youth to get a handle on how our economy works as well as develop ideas on where they would like to be in the future. I'm so glad this program is available in Portland!

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