JA Finance Park
Imagine a generation where young people, no matter their background, know how to budget, save, and invest; a generation that is armed with the confidence and understanding to take control of their financial futures, their careers and the tools to achieve their dreams. Our mission is to provide students with opportunities to make those dreams a reality. At JA Finance Park students have the rare opportunity to experience their personal financial futures first-hand. Here, 8th grade students participate in an immersive simulation that enables them to develop skills to successfully navigate today’s complex economic environment and discover how decisions today can impact tomorrow.
Thank you to our JA Finance Park Sponsors
Our JA Finance Park® program invests in youth now so they can navigate the financial waters in the future. An experiential, real-life simulation, JA Finance Park first provides a series of lessons in the classroom to middle school students where they learn about all aspects of personal finance including learning about balancing a family budget, interest rates, how education affects their earning potential, and how saving today can affect their future.
Then, students come to JA Finance Park at the Bill Poe Family JA Center to put their new knowledge into action. During this half-day experience, students assume randomly assigned family and income scenarios and visit businesses to gather information for their personal financial decision-making. They utilize banking services, purchase housing, transportation, insurance, furnishings, health care, and other expenses, as well as make investment decisions.
The JA Finance Park curriculum (both entry level and advanced) wraps up with a hands-on, completely virtual simulation that is supported by volunteers and educators. This new Virtual 2.0 simulation has been fully redeveloped, with a brand-new experiences and an updated look and feel. In the entry level simulation, students assume randomly assigned family and income scenarios and will gather information to make informed financial decisions. They utilize banking services, purchase housing, transportation, insurance, furnishings, health care, and other expenses, as well as make investment decisions. The advanced simulation for high school students will take a deeper dive, and allow them to make decisions on what they want their simulated future to look like. It will take them through numerous life stages, to experience what it is like to budget as a teenager compared to a retired adult. This hands-on experience lays a solid foundation for students’ future decision-making.
For more information contact:
Angelica Tobar
Manager, JA Finance Park
Email: Angelica.Tobar@ja.org
813-631-1410 ext 226
Teachers
Where can middle school students be engaged in the real-life experience of creating and maintaining a personal budget? Where would they be asked to create a lifestyle budget that factors in health care, housing, transportation, home improvement, banking and loans, groceries, stocks, and utilities?
This will all happen at JA Finance Park where students study the concept of personal financial managements in the classroom and then apply them in a life-like business environment.
Volunteers
Each simulation day requires between 15-20 volunteers to assist in the visit.
We cannot run the JA Finance Park simulation without volunteers to supervise and assist the students, and by volunteering, you are making it possible for our schools to participate in the program!
As a volunteer, you will be assigned to one of the storefronts in JA Finance Park, where you will provide information about different budget items, assist the students in balancing their budget, and help them to stay on task and focus on their personal goals.
JA Finance Park volunteers do not need to have specific expertise and are encouraged to share real-world experience/advice to the students as they learn what it means to be a working professional.
The total time commitment is 5 hours, which includes a 1 hr training the morning of before the students arrive, where you will receive training on how to facilitate the students’ learning. We will go over what to expect and how to make the day successful for you as well as the students. During the day, you will receive a volunteer binder, with helpful checklists, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips.
Volunteer with us at JA Finance Park!
Volunteers like you make a big difference in the lives of our JA Finance Park students. You can make an impact by spending your time with them and sharing your own stories and experiences.
For more information on volunteering at JA Finance Park, please contact:
Deviney Haley | 813-625-1181 | Deviney.Haley@ja.org
