Timber Trail fifth graders in "Towne"
Timber Trail fifth grader Jaxson Bell spends the day as a physician at Young AmeriTown, a Denver educational program aimed at giving students a taste of real-world money management and working skills.
By Lisa Crockett
The “real” world of work, paychecks and paying the bills is still a ways off for the ten and eleven year-olds at Timber Trail Elementary (TTE), but a recent field trip has given them a taste of just how the adult world of employment and money management works. Young AmeriTowne, an educational program in Denver, is sponsored by the Young Americans Center for Financial Education. The program gives fifth graders the chance to run a town – and the 17 businesses in that town – for a day.
When students arrive, a town mayor and other officers are elected and sworn in, and then the business day begins. Students interview for jobs ranging from newspaper reporter to store clerk to college professor. Students earn money at their jobs, which can then be used to purchase goods in town.
TTE student Jaxson Bell spent the day as a Young AmeriTown physician. Employees in various businesses throughout town are selected to “be injured” or “fall ill” to give businesses a taste of how to handle absenteeism.
“I saw patients at my job and entered things into the computer,” said Bell. “I also learned how to use the money I earned using a bank account and a debit card.”
Not unlike his adult counterparts, Bell said the best part of the day was receiving a paycheck and finding ways to spend the money.
“On our breaks, we could use the money we earned to buy real things like food and toys. I learned how to keep a checkbook register. I think what I learned will be helpful as I get older.”
