JA Finance Park
A “Real World” Experience in Los Angeles

Today’s young people need a strong foundation for making intelligent, lifelong, personal financial decisions. To improve the financial literacy of our youth - our future business leaders and employees - Junior Achievement of Southern California has created an exciting reality-based learning environment for middle and early high school students. Opened Fall 2007 at The Mike Curb Learning Center on the JA of Southern California campus, JA Finance Park allows 7th to 12th grade students to see, touch and live the experience of personal finance in a real-life setting of stores, shops, and financial institutions. Over 12,000 students have participated in Finance Park during the past 18 months.

JA Finance Park is a five-week, teacher-lead, standards based, economics education program that introduces personal financial planning and career exploration, culminating in a day-long visit at the JA Finance Park site. Prior to their visit, teachers and volunteers attend on-site training provided by Junior Achievement staff to prepare them to lead students through the classroom curriculum. During their visit to JA Finance Park, students apply these learned concepts, with the help of their teachers and volunteers, in a life-like community by assuming various family and income scenarios and visiting businesses to gather information for their personal financial decision-making.

“A Day in the Park” – Putting Learning to Work

Upon entering JA Finance Park, each student is assigned their unique “life situation” – a card to identify the details of their adult persona, including marital status, number of children (if any), education, employment and income. The card might, for example, classify a student as a single mother with two kids, junior college education, and a sales associate job receiving an income of $40,000 per year. Students will determine how much of their income is available to them each month after taxes, and they will budget their money as they move about the Park. Each student’s budget will become the most important determining factor of his/her assumed role. Participating students use bank services, contribute to charities, purchase housing, transportation, furnishings, food, health care, and other expenses, make investment decisions, and work to create and balance their personal budgets. Students will become conscious that choices, compromises, and saving for the future are key concepts for living within one’s means.

Real-life members of the community, including teachers, parents and local business people, mentor students by actively participating in their unique JA Finance Park experience.

JA Finance Park Concepts and Skills:

• Credit and Debt
• Saving and Investing
• Taxes, Income and Social Security
• Pricing Research
• Planning: Budgeting and Money Management
• Career Goals

For JA Finance Park class registration - or to participate as a volunteer mentor, please contact Kimberly Blum, JA Finance Park Director, by email or call 323.785.3555.