LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Tens of thousands of students from the Clark County School District will soon be able to visit a new location and participate in programs that set them up for success.
On Tuesday, Channel 13 stopped by the Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada Inspiration Center, which is under construction.
"The building that we're in now was formally a 24 Hour Fitness Center. Unfortunately, in March 2020, they closed and did not reopen. We acquired the building and we're building the JA Inspiration Center, which is going to be home to town of our organization's capstone programs," said Michelle Jackson, the President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada. "Junior Achievement is part of a national organization and we teach kids in three areas: financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship skills."
Jackson said the two programs that will call the new building home are JA Finance Park and JA Biz Town. She said that 84% of all fifth graders and 84% of all tenth graders in CCSD will be able to participate in that program every school year. That equates to about 60,000 students.
"Although some of the skills could be taught in school, it's so different when they come on a field trip experience," Jackson explained. "Our goal is that when they graduate from high school, they're going to know where they can go in their careers, who they want to be when they grow up, and how to get there. We want them to know how to manage their money once they get that first paycheck. How do I live within a budget? What is a credit score? How do I keep it from becoming bad or make it good? We also want them to have an understanding of investments and how to generate wealth."
For example, Jackson explained that with the Biz Town program, students basically run a fake town for a day.
"They become the business owners, the CEOs, the Chief Financial Officers, the front line employees, and they do business-to-business transactions with each other," Jackson said. "When they get their paychecks and go on their breaks, they visit the different businesses and spend their Biz Bucks on things. One business may take out a loan out at the bank and one of the businesses' goals is to sell enough of their wares to pay back the bank."
Jackson said the nonprofit is hoping to do a soft launch in May, before the school year ends, so they can fine-tune their operations and programming before opening the center this fall. She also added that there are several volunteer opportunities and ways for the community to get involved. You can learn more here.
