Last Friday our 5th grade classes visited JA BizTown in Tempe, AZ. Months of learning about work readiness, entrepreneurship, civics, and financial literacy was put into action during the 4-hour simulation. Our students were very successful with all businesses paying off their business loans. The JA Office Complex led by students Zoe Bryant and Grayson Fuller was the most profitable in town and Logan Fry earned the Citizen of the Day Award!
JA BizTown is an engaging, hands-on program that introduces 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to economic concepts, workplace skills, and personal and business finances in a student-sized town built just for them. Students first take part in a series of classroom lessons where they learn about working in and being consumers in today’s world. They work together to create business plans, calculate operating costs, design a marketing campaign, apply for jobs, vote for city officials, and explore careers. Then, they put their skills to work by becoming “employees for a day” in an on-site learning facility that features more than 40 different businesses and industries.