Fifth-graders get taste of the real word at Exchange City
As I dutifully joined about 50 fifth-graders and a handful of parents aboard one of two yellow school buses at 7 o'clock on a recent dark, chilly morning, I couldn't help asking myself, "What in the world am I doing?!"
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The students were excited. High-pitched chatter filled the cold bus as they all talked at the same time. The green seats seemed smaller than when I last rode a school bus, and the shocks seemed worn as we bumped our way south down the highway.
But part of me was excited, too. We were on our way to Exchange City in Maplewood, where these energetic, bubbly 10- and 11-year-olds who couldn't sit still or be quiet for a minute were about to enter the world of adulthood.
They were about to become citizens of a community called Exchange City. Citizens with adult responsibilities. Responsibilities that included running a business and earning a paycheck, paying off a business loan and trying to make a profit, balancing a checkbook and following the city's laws, and, most difficult of all, staying on task and within budget.
Junior Achievement operates Exchange City, which was created nationally in 1980 in response to employers' and community leaders' concerns that students lacked the basic understanding of government, economics and skills needed for future roles in the workplace.
This mini-city is inside the Junior Achievement facility in Maplewood. It features four streets circling a center park that includes a gazebo and big tree with benches, sidewalks and grassy areas. Along the streets are Exchange City businesses, including city hall, a radio station, newspaper office, wellness center, post office, distribution center, factory, multi-service center, bank and retail stores, including the International Shop, Nature Shop, Sports Shop, Snack Shop and Sign Shop.
The idea is for students to learn all about working for a business and maintaining a healthy cash flow, both for their businesses and themselves. Before going to Exchange City, they spent several weeks learning skills to use on their visit. They applied and interviewed for Exchange City jobs, and learned how to use checkbooks and take out loans, the importance of health insurance, and about government and free enterprise.
Each business has an owner and an accountant. The owner has to keep employees on task, whether that's selling advertising or gathering news stories for a newspaper or making popcorn and juice to sell at the snack shop. The owner gets a loan from the bank, then issues payroll checks to employees who have to use their work breaks wisely.
In the morning, employees have 25 minutes to deposit their checks in the bank, eat lunch and shop. They have an afternoon break to deposit another check and then spend all their money at Exchange City stores, buying items those store workers made.
The accountant uses a computer to print checks to pay bills to other businesses, as well as to record income. The accountant has to remember to visit the bank periodically throughout the day to make loan payments. The goal is to repay the loan and eventually make a profit. Some companies meet these goals; some do not.
This year all 500 or so Brainerd fifth-graders have the opportunity to visit Exchange City in five separate trips, thanks to a $7,500 donation from the Brainerd Jaycees and donations from numerous other businesses, parents and individuals. Cost to attend Exchange City is $30 per student. The facility is booked through the end of the school year.
The hardest part of the day was letting students do everything themselves. Adults were there to guide them, but in the end the students ran Exchange City. According to students' comments at the end of the day, they learned everybody should work together and you don't get paid to have fun. One student gained a better understanding of why parents come home tired and crabby at the end of a hard and busy workday.
Judging from my daughter's overdrawn bank account, students definitely got a taste of the real world.
NANCY VOGT, features editor, can be reached at nancy.vogt@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864.