Junior Achievement Launches JA BizTown Adventures™
Today Junior Achievement USA (JA) announced the launch of JA BizTown Adventures™, an online experience that helps younger students explore business ownership and various job and career roles. JA BizTown Adventures is funded by Truist Cares, a cooperative effort between Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Foundation, Inc., and Truist Charitable Fund to provide communities, organizations and individuals disaster relief and assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. The experience is part of Junior Achievement’s popular JA BizTown program.
“Giving students a chance to experience entrepreneurship and careers is a great way to help them make the connection between what they learn in school and their future aspirations,” said Jack E. Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. “JA BizTown Adventures lets us do that in a way that is not only engaging for students but also easily accessible due to the use of technology. We greatly appreciate Truist’s support in helping us make this experience available to more young people.”
JA BizTown Adventures is a culminating online experience for students that follow the JA BizTown curriculum. Fifth- and sixth-grade students gain an understanding of various aspects of running a business as they take on the roles of chief executive officer, chief financial officer, marketing director, sales manager, and consumer via five online, self-guided adventures.
“At Truist we partner with organizations committed to closing the digital divide, including offering enhanced online learning experiences,” said Arnold Evans, enterprise ethics officer at Truist and JA USA board member. “The pandemic amplified educational inequities, and expanding JA BizTown Adventures allows more young people to take part in this meaningful learning opportunity to build skills for future success.”
The JA BizTown curriculum provides educators with lessons and resources to integrate work and career readiness and financial literacy into the classroom. The program supports critical thinking skills and student engagement and helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school, via in-classroom or remote learning, and the real world.