Junior Achievement Welcomes Students to a Newly Renovated JA BizTown

CONTACT:
Beth Tyburski, Senior Vice President
Junior Achievement of Central Ohio
Email: btyburski@jacols.org
Phone: 937.361.0351

Junior Achievement Welcomes Students to a Newly Renovated JA BizTown

(Columbus, OH) – Junior Achievement of Central Ohio (JA) has spent the last five months renovating its Downtown Columbus Learning Center at 68 E 2nd Ave. On November 17th JA instructors and Bread Financial volunteers will welcome Westfall Elementary students to the newly renovated Learning Center. One of the renovation’s main focuses has been JA BizTown, the program Westfall students will participate in that day. When Westfall’s fifth graders arrive at the facility and enter the new “JA BizTown” they will see a modern-day reflection of our communities. Students will feel like real adults working for local businesses during this simulation that teaches them the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in today’s workforce.

“All central Ohio students who attend will be positively impacted by the renovation, remembering their time at JA BizTown for years to come. The experience is so much more immersive now, really bringing the learning to life. It truly feels like walking down the street in one of our communities,” said JA Board Member, Miss Tia Holliman, Director of Curriculum, Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools.

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This learning experience provides educators with lessons and resources to effectively integrate financial literacy and work and career readiness into the elementary school classroom. At JA BizTown students put their skills to work by becoming employees for a day. They operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor.

"The renovation of JA BizTown is just the start,” said JA Board Chair, Beth Alloway, Senior Vice President, Regional Banking Market Manager, Huntington Bank. “In partnership with thousands of volunteers each year, the generous support of our corporate sponsors, and the enthusiasm of school districts and educators, we plan to engage more central Ohio students in the coming year through our Learning Center programs and in-the-classroom programming we provide. Our team at Junior Achievement has had quite the amazing and productive Fall as we’ve worked to further our mission to teach financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship to all ages, K-12. Together we’re all equipping students with the financial acumen they need on their paths to becoming responsible, successful adults, and that makes all the work and investment worth it."

Junior Achievement of Central Ohio projects to serve more than 35,000 K-12 students in the 2023-24 school year. Approximately 10,350 of these students will experience the new JA BizTown.

For more information about Junior Achievement and learning experiences like JA BizTown, visit www.centralohio.ja.org.

About JA BizTown

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular learning experience allows elementary school students to operate local businesses that sponsor the program. These sponsors are Amazon, Battelle, Cardinal Health, The Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, The Columbus Foundation, Discover, Donatos, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Google, Huntington Bank, IGS, Meta, ODW Logistics, Pepper Construction, Rockbridge, and SWACO. This JA program includes 12 teacher-led sessions before the learning experience, a 5-hour visit to Junior Achievement’s Learning Center, and 1 teacher-led session following the experience.

About Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement (JA) has over 100 local JA Areas across the U.S. and is the nation's largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in their lives and careers. JA offers programs about work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy that build on each other over multiple grades (K-12) to prepare students for post-secondary education or work in the real world.

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