During the 2014-2015 school year, 10,000 students in Northern Indiana will visit JA BizTown, an authentic, life-sized town in Ft. Wayne that engages 5th and 6th grade students in the management of a simulated economy and workforce readiness experiences during a one-day interactive simulation. On April 13th , 69 sixth graders from Triton Elementary School will experience JA BizTown for the 2nd straight year.
Over the past few months, Triton 6th grade teachers Adam Heckaman, Karyn McFarland and Teresa Watkins have spent time in their classrooms teaching students the economic concepts and business skills they will need to be successful both at JA BizTown and in life.
While managing JA BizTown’s simulated community and its economy for the day, the students will operate the town businesses, run the government, and hold a variety of jobs including CEO, CFO, Web Designer, Sales Manager, Town Treasurer, Mayor, Newspaper Editor and Utility Engineer. As they manage the various facets of the town, they produce and sell products and services; earn, lend, save, and spend money; run businesses; and make choices about what to buy and how to use money and resources.
Within their businesses, the owners and workers learn to manage time, business activities, financial resources, inventories, and customers. They set product prices, adjusting as necessary to take in enough money to make a profit. Students earn a paycheck for their work, which they use to make deposits into their checking and savings accounts at the town’s bank, and learn about personal finances as they write checks, balance their checkbooks, and manage their cash to provide for their needs and wants. Computers and other technology make the experience especially realistic.
Through the classroom preparation and during the day of role-play in this working economy, students learn workforce readiness concepts, practice personal and business money management skills, and explore business and career opportunities. They use critical thinking skills as they explore and enhance their understanding of free enterprise.
Junior Achievement has been working with the Triton School Corporation since last fall to make this trip a reality for the students. “Triton School Corporation is very excited about the opportunities for real-life learning that Junior Achievement programs offer our students,” says Triton Superintendent Donna Burroughs. “Last year at JA Biz-Town, our sixth graders thoroughly enjoyed the experience and came away knowing much more about how communities work and how we’re interdependent on one another. My favorite quote was from a student who said she never knew what a CEO was before BizTown, and now she knew she was going to be one! It is truly a life-changing experience.”
The experiential learning provided at JA BizTown helps students understand how to become successful, productive and effective citizens, business owners and employees, and prepares them to succeed as adults by teaching them the practical teamwork, decision making and money-management skills that they will need to prosper in life.
Junior Achievement programs are provided at no cost to students and schools. For more information about Junior Achievement programs in Marshall County Schools, to find out about sponsorship or volunteer opportunities, or to invite JA programs into your classroom please contact Julie Stabrowski at Julie.stabrowski@ja.org or 574.855.9702.
