Inside a 40,000-square-foot building in Las Vegas on Wednesday, 30 campers ran a simulated town featuring a bank, fast-food restaurant and hospital, among other storefronts.
Grace Synold, 15, was the town’s mayor and worked at its replica of Las Vegas City Hall.
“I like it a lot,” Synold said. “I think it’s cool because you get real-life experience.”
Alongside her peers, she is a participant of the second-annual Finding My Future Summer Camp hosted by Junior Achievement of Nevada, one of 100 chapters of Junior Achievement USA, a nonprofit teaching young people financial literacy.
The camp is in its third out of four weeks, with a new group of participants every week.
It is tailored for children age 9 through 15 or entering fourth through ninth grade and designed to “teach the youth the business of life,” according to the Junior Achievement of Nevada website.
This is done by helping them find their place in the job market and manage their finances and preparing them for financial success and security in the real world.
“There’s so many day-to-day things that come with financial literacy,” said Shanice Stevens, director of community engagement for Junior Achievement of Nevada. “Financial literacy is paying attention to your needs and wants.”
The simulated town occupies roughly one-fifth of Junior Achievement of Nevada’s massive headquarters, and is called BizTown.
There, campers receive income, pay for goods and services and learn how to budget, save and spend wisely within a camper-run economy.
They become business owners, employees and consumers.
During the camp’s third week, seven locations are open, including Caesars Palace, Five Guys, Google, HCA Healthcare, Las Vegas City Hall, Las Vegas Raiders and PNC Bank.
The number of locations open on each given week hinges on the amount of participants attending the camp that week.
In total, BizTown consists of 24 businesses, institutions and stores. Each storefront is sponsored by the organization it represents.
“We entered a partnership with Junior Achievement because it aligns perfectly to our commitment moving forward,” said Magda Hirsch, client and community relations director for PNC Bank’s office of the regional president in Nevada. “We believe and support having educational opportunities for Nevada students.”
BizTown
BizTown is approximately 9,000 square feet.
There is a strong smell of popcorn throughout the entire area, coming from the Five Guys.
The fast-food restaurant is unsurprisingly the town’s most popular spot. Besides a popcorn machine, it also contains a pair of snow cone makers.
BizTown’s sheriff paces in circles with a serious look on his face, ensuring everyone is following the town’s five laws: no running, littering, ditching work, improper language or distracting a presentation.
As the mayor, Synold is constantly surrounded by townspeople.
Most importantly, everyone has a debit card on their person, the object that keeps BizTown running.
The object at the center of campers learning how businesses operate, the role of money in the economy and the importance of teamwork and decision-making.
“(Campers) usually know a lot of things because they’ve picked it up from different places, but it doesn’t make sense,” Stevens said. “The way that we incorporate financial literacy into economic mobility allows them to put the pieces together.”
