JA BizTown®

Elementary school students aren't old enough to drive, work, vote or be the boss.  At JA BizTown they are!  Students operate a bank, restaurant, city hall, newspaper, retail store and 10 other businesses.  JA BizTown® combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a fully interactive, simulated town. Students leave understanding the relationship between what they learn in school and their participation in a local economy.

JA BizTown is correlated to Common Core Standards and Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. JA BizTown is proven to advance students' knowledge, skill, attitude, and achievement.
 

At JA BizTown, students learn about:
 
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Goods and services
  • Resources
  • Producers and consumers
  • Scarcity
  • Supply and demand
  • Opportunity costs
  • Taxes
  • Spending and saving
  • Financial institutions and banking concepts
  • Write a resume
  • Apply for jobs
  • Produce goods and services
  • Spend money
  • Become part of a business team and create a business plan


Click here for the online JA BizTown volunteer training.

 


JA BizTown Highlights:

  • Designed to support differentiated learning styles and abilities
  • Real-life, interactive simulation
  • Partnership between schools, parents and the business community
  • Memorable educational experience
  • Extended learning opportunities
  • Active, rather than passive learning
  • Real, rather than imagined experiences
  • Turn-key classroom program and materials
  • created with teacher input and provided by JA
  • Teacher training and professional development
  • Classroom learning combined with a full-day simulation in a state-of-the art immersive learning center
  • Aligned to Common Core Standards and Wisconsin Model Academic Standards


JA BizTown Works!

Local, independent evaluation results confirm that when given the opportunity to apply concepts to a real-life scenario, young people are able to make essential connections for deeper understanding.
 
93% of students report they now know how important it is to stay in school.
 
92% of teachers agreed that after their JA BizTown experience, students now are more likely to continue their education and choose a career based on their interests and abilities.
 
96% of teachers responded they felt the JA BizTown curriculum helped them meet curricular objectives and state standards.
 
JA BizTown is proven to have a positive impact on student attitudes toward school. The majority of participating teachers agree JA BizTown contains valuable concepts that further students' awareness of necessary life skills. JA BizTown encourages their creativity and imagination, holds their attention, results in a high level of student participation and is age appropriate.

Volunteers Roles and Responsibilities

  • 17 – 20 volunteers are needed each day
  • Volunteers work with 6 – 12 students
  • Volunteers receive training (provided by JA) that will prepare them for the experience
  • Volunteer training is held 1 hour prior to student arrival. Training starts at 8:30am.
  • Student simulation begins at 9:30am and concludes by around 2:00pm.

Volunteer Benefits

  • Work with students and teachers in ways that are positive, meaningful, and productive.
  • You have a chance to increase young people's knowledge about careers, work day experiences, personal finance, and values.

Please contact (414) 577-3800 or jamilw@jawis.org if you are interested!

 
Pre/Post Testing
Participating teachers and students, please click here for the JA BizTown pre/post test.