(Photo | Courtesy of Junior Achievement of Oregon & SW Washington)
The flagship financial literacy program from Junior Achievement of Oregon & SW Washington (JA), JA Finance Park will be at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds through Wednesday, April 17. Nearly 300 students from seven area middle and high schools will be participating in this exciting financial literacy experience.
JA Finance Park is part of a suite of programs centered around financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, delivered to K-12 students by Junior Achievement, whose mission is to inspire and prepare young people to exceed in the global economy. JA Finance Park blends in-class learning with a high-tech, high-touch simulation experience. The program, which travels to several locations around Oregon and SW Washington, helps students develop crucial skills such as critical thinking, decision making, career exploration and personal financial literacy.
Using an iPad and custom JA Finance Park App, the students are assigned a life scenario and move through the exhibit visiting 17 business kiosks, each representing a common household expense line. The simulation empowers youth to utilize the knowledge they have acquired during the in-class portion of the program to complete the task of researching choices and costs of various products and services, while ultimately building a balanced family budget.
“We are excited to be serving over 1,800 Central Oregon students annually with our K-12 programs. JA Finance Park provides a turnkey solution for schools that are looking for a fun, engaging and effective financial literacy program for students,” says Ryan Deckert, President of JA of Oregon & SW Washington.
