Pretend Main Street Teaches Real-Life Financial Lessons

At Junior Achievement’s BizTown in Hillsboro, students run the bank, City Hall and the chair factory, and learn how to handle money along the way 

Emily Matsuba was in 5th grade when she stood at a bank teller's window and cashed her first paper paycheck. She had earned it that morning working a shift in a café. 

"Going to the bank, actually cashing my paycheck, getting that money so I can spend it, that was my first experience of being like an adult ... as a 10-year-old," she said. "I still talk about this a lot." 

Emily's vivid memory was from her field trip to JA BizTown, a miniature city that Junior Achievement of Oregon and Southwest Washington operates in Hillsboro. Fifth and sixth graders spend a school day running the town's businesses, banks, nonprofits and government. They hold jobs, earn paychecks, pay taxes and vote for a mayor.  

"Our mission is to educate and inspire youth to succeed in a global economy," said Barbara Smith, the organization's President and CEO. "We're already seeing the effects of not having personal finance in school."  

Oregon Community Foundation and its donors have long supported Smith's organization's work with students. Emily came back to BizTown as an OCF intern on a recent site visit with other OCF staff.  

Every stop has a lesson

Each JA BizTown session brings 70 to 120 students through the doors. Every student gets a business, a title and an instruction manual, and adult volunteers coach them through their jobs. 

At OnPoint Community Credit Union and Columbia Bank, students work as tellers and process loans. Portland General Electric charges businesses for energy and offers rebates for renewable power. At Emrick Construction, students build an Adirondack chair to sell. Students earn two paychecks and a debit card, and they learn the difference between cash, debit and credit. 

At City Hall, students hold elections, run a census and conduct a public opinion poll. An attorney prosecutes violators, a fire marshal inspects storefronts, and IRS agents even collect taxes. 

Gina Huntington, JA BizTown's Director of Operations, said the point goes beyond money. "At Columbia Sportswear, there's someone designing clothes, someone managing inventory. Students don't necessarily see all of that in real life," she said. "These are ways for them to see what's possible." 

Scott Neal, a fifth-grade teacher at William Walker Elementary School in Beaverton, has brought students for several years and seen the results in their faces.  

"Even though it was a little stressful for them, they really enjoyed it," Neal said. "And they walked away, they were smiling. They were really proud of themselves for what they had accomplished." 

Making sure every school can come 

A day at BizTown costs about $65 per student. Junior Achievement asks schools to cover about $22 for the curriculum, and sponsors pay the rest. The organization receives no federal or state funding, and about half its revenue comes from corporate partners. 

That matters for schools like William Walker, a Title I school that serves a high percentage of low-income families. Price was one obstacle, and finding parent volunteers was another, because many parents work during the day. Project LEDO, a nonprofit partner, helped negotiate a price the school could manage, and the school later won a grant to offset the fee. 

"What I really liked about JA BizTown is that they said we don't want any school to not be able to come because of price," Neal said. 

OCF donors help too. Priscilla Trevino, the organization's Director of Development, said donors give because they want young people, especially those in underserved communities, to broaden their perspectives. "They truly believe in the mission of empowering our young people," she said. 

What comes next 

Both Oregon centers, Hillsboro and Portland, are always looking for more students. Smith said the organization is working to bring in more lower-income schools, with scholarship dollars from corporate partners. An Oregon law that requires financial literacy instruction is driving Junior Achievement to create online opportunities for rural schools that can't make the trip.