Fairview students get hands on banking experience at Junior Achievement City

12-12-2019

SALT LAKE CITY—Fifth-grade students at Fairview Elementary got a hands-on introduction to banking, economics and business during a visit to Junior Achievement City in Salt Lake City on Nov. 22.
Junior Achievement (JA) City is part of the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum in downtown Salt Lake City. It is a simulated community, where students work together to manage businesses and run the city.
In preparation for the trip, students learned to write checks, make deposits in a bank and maintain an accurate check register.
Before leaving on the field trip, students worked as a team to write television, radio and business advertisements that would be used at JA City.
As they entered the “city,” the students crossed a bridge representing their transformation from children to adults. Now it was up to them to run the town.
Students made their way to “businesses” in the city, which were decorated to match their counterpart businesses, such as Zions Bank and Rocky Mountain Power. They were assigned to hypothetical jobs in the businesses. Parent volunteers were at the ready to assist when needed.
According to teachers, some of the highlights of the day included seeing fellow students on live TV being interviewed by KSL employees, and participating in a town meeting held by the mayor where CEOs from each business delivered a speech about their company.
They also had the experience of receiving paychecks, depositing them in the bank, and writing checks and using debit cards to buy fun interesting products. They also got to buy a soda and eat lunch at Maverick.