The fifth grade field trip actually wasn't that bad. Along with my friend and I, there were about ten other volunteers. And on top of that were the five or so teachers and about 3 employees of the JA Biztown. I think there was about 150 students. The JA Biztown is a building that has a section that looks like a mini mall. The different stores that line the left and right side of this section are operated by the students. This gives them an oppurtunity to experience what its like to run a business, write checks, purchase items, etc. At this JA Biztown the businesses included Bright House, Verizon, Teco, Bank of America, mix 100.7, Tampa Bay Lightning, Mcdonalds, Government Offices, and a few others.
I oversaw Tampa Bay Lightning and had five kids operating the store. There was a CFO, a CEO, and three Sales people. The town starts with about half an hour for setup. The kids read the folders for their job which explains their responsibilites. One of the Sales people picks up the merchandise and they work together to price the items. Their goal is to be able to pay back the bank loan and make profits.
Through out the day there and two sets of breaks and in each set the breaks are divided in three groups so the stores are always manned. Students get paychecks twice in the day and are able to deposit them at the bank and use their checkbook and Biztown money to buy stuff around town. They get to keep the stuff they buy.
Since I'd never been to a JA Biztown before I was a bit nervous but the staff was good about making sure you knew what you needed to do. Volunteers had a folder with instructions and if they needed help then Biztown staff was available to assist. My group of kids were really good at following directions and when the end of the day came they'd successfully sold all of their merchandise and all of them seemed to have fun.
I think I'd do it again next year.
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