Young Ameritowne: When Kids Run a City for a Day!

The twins have been so excited for this day- Young Ameritowne.

My husband remembers when he went when he was in 5th grade 

and this experience is one that I'm sure the twins will remember for years to come. 

Basically, what happens is the 4th and 5th graders get to run a city for a day. They have been preparing at school for weeks and talking about what it takes to run a business, balance a checkbook, spend money wisely, run a town, etc.. They had interviews were they met with parent volunteers and tried to get a job that they were interested in. They get assigned a job and then get a salary at Ameritowne for working 3 shifts. They get 2 breaks where they can cash their paycheck at the bank and then spend it through cash, debit card and checkbook in the town. They could buy toys, snacks, pay for a newspaper (that the kids at the print shop put together), go to college, workout, etc... so many options! And kids run each shop! 

 I spent the day in the warehouse- basically there if they had questions.
Each shop had a manager, an accountant and several employees.
Managers and accounts got paid $30 for the day and employees got paid $25.

 Ari was the accountant for the snack shop. She had to write the paychecks for the employees and for bills to various parts of the town and loan repayments. It's cool because in weeks to come, they will see if their business made a profit or went in the hole. 

Sophia was a health care assistant and had to gather people around the town who were hurt. She made sure to tell them to bring their checkbooks for the copay. The kids even came up with their own town laws before hand and they had kid policeman who would write tickets if people broke them (like running in the town square) If the kids thought they were charged unfairly, they could go to court before a kid judge who would hear the case and decide guilty (they would have to do community service) or not guilty. Seriously, this whole thing was just amazing! 

It was so cool, too, because our school had the whole town to ourselves. 

Just so amazed at this whole process and how it is preparing them in a small way to catch a glimpse of the real world! They even have summer programs! We may be checking them out!