Friday, April 27, 2018

Biztown

Evelyn and her fellow 5th graders had the most incredible experience today! Junior Achievement of Oregon runs a fun simulation called "Biztown", a mock town that the kids get to run and operate themselves. I have heard so many positive things about this program during my time at Fir Grove and was so excited that it was Evelyn's turn to go... and excited that I got to be a volunteer also!

The kids spend lots of class time over the past month or so getting ready for this big day. During that time they learned about personal finance, jobs, government and more. They got to "interview" for the jobs they hoped to do. They each got their own bank account and checkbook. They learned about free enterprise. Good stuff for sure!

Finally.. today... the big day was here. I went to volunteer training a couple of weeks ago so had some idea of what to expect.. unlike the kids, who were kept in the dark about what it would really be like.


Volunteers got their before the kids to get familiar with the town and learn last minute stuff. It is amazing how they have this little town set up so perfectly. 
My place for the day...
Let's do this!

I wish I could have taken photos of the kids when they first walked in (Biztown wouldn't allow photos until they made sure all kids were allowed to have photos taken, something they wouldn't know until the teachers arrived). They oohs and ahhhhs and amazed faces were priceless! The kids were super excited to start the day. 



My team in the Wellness Center. Ellie, my CFO, Chase, my CEO and Michelle, my wellness director. The kids did a great job!

Evelyn was the CEO of BZTV, the news station in Biztown. She was pretty excited to have this role. Of course I had to go and peek in on her thru the day. 
Looking over her to-do list. 
Gus, cameraman, and Loren, on-air personality.


All of the CEO's had to give a speech promoting their company and describing how it benefits the community of Biztown. Evelyn did a great job!
...she was glad it was over, tho! :)
She preferred to be here... in front of the camera....
....or here, on break where she could eat or shop with her biztown money....

...or here. This was truly her favorite thing she did all day. She LOVED working the camera.. and often got complimented on how well she did so. She even gave her real cameraman (another classmate) an extra break so she could spend more time filming. She managed her time and CEO duties well enough to be able to do it, too. It was a real eye opener for her to see how much she loved being behind the camera. 

All of the kids had a blast today and I think learned a lot... especially that "adulting" can be stressful! :) 









Love these faces!! 


Evelyn saved her money to adopt an animal from the animal shelter but that didn't work out for various reasons so she got this instead. 

This chair was made by 5th graders and we plan on raffling it off for money for 5th grade send off party. 


So apparently the Mayor of Biztown gets to pick a "Citizen of the Day", a person who he thinks has been an asset to Biztown during the day. He got feedback from lots of citizens and chose Evelyn!!! And to top that off, I had SEVERAL people, parents and JA employees alike, come up to me and tell me how amazing Evelyn is and that she is a natural leader with a great attitude. Love my girlie and thankful for the many gifts God has given her!



This will probably be considered one of the favorite experiences of all the 5th graders.. and certainly it has been one of mine as a parent helper. Such a fun day!!

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