Through a partnership with the Gus A.
Stavros Institute and Pinellas County Schools, JA
Finance Park offers students personal financial
management and career exploration through classroom
instruction and active participation in a simulated
community. The curriculum serves as an integrated unit
to prepare students for an all-day visit to JA Finance
Park.
Classroom instruction addresses:
 | Financial Institutions.
Students recognize the role of financial institutions
and the various services they provide. Through case
study, graphing and other activities, students
understand the advantages and disadvantages of saving,
investing and using credit.
|
| Taxes and Salary.
Students discuss the similarities and differences
among sales, income, and property taxes. Students
study the benefits and limitations of Social Security.
Using various scenarios, they determine net monthly
income.
|
| Budgeting.
Students learn the importance of initiating and
maintaining a personal budget. Through case study
analysis they create their own personal budgets and
evaluate other types of budgets. |
Students prepare for their visit to JA Finance
Park by defining their schedule, conducting
pricing research, and assessing investment. They also
gain knowledge about budgeting by evaluating
hypothetical life situations and prioritizing budget
items.
Students spend one day at JA Finance Park where they
apply classroom learning by making important spending
decisions and maintaining a balanced budget. Following
their visit, students participate in a reflective
assessment of their accomplishments, including feedback
from parents/guardians.
The final classroom instruction explores Career Goals
whereby students identify their abilities, interests,
work preferences, and values. Based on their newly
acquired financial knowledge, students consider the type
of lifestyle they would like and what goals they must
set to achieve this lifestyle. Students determine the
training required to achieve their goals.
JA Economics for SuccessTM
The latest JA program, JA
Economics for Success, examines personal finance
and students' education and career options based on
their skills, interests, and values.
JA Economics for Success is a series of six
activities recommended for students in grades six,
seven, and eight.
Students make choices to understand the concept of
self-knowledge-their skills, interests, and values-and
the structure of the world of work as they consider
education, career, and other life choices. They learn
the steps to reflective decision-making, a fundamental
process when making important decisions. Playing the
game, "Choose Your Success," students apply reflective
decision-making to education and career options.
Using their understanding of decision-making,
self-knowledge, and the world of work, students repeat
playing the "Choose Your Success" game to gain an
understanding of the important relationship between
education, work, and opportunities for success.
Occupation Cards enable students to observe how
different jobs pay different monthly salaries. Based on
these salaries, students evaluate the opportunity costs
of decisions as they form a budget and compare their
spending to suggested amounts.
Students consider how consumers pay for goods and
services, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
using cash and credit, and participate in an activity
that reinforces their understanding of the cost of
credit.
Program activities teach that life involves risks and
that insurance helps reduce the financial consequences
of risk. Students study how insurance premiums vary for
different people and different policies. They role-play
to demonstrate how insurance can reduce the cost of
medical, home, and auto emergencies.
Contact information:
Diane Riggs, Sr. Director
Education Research & Innovation
www.ja.org
