unnamed-1024x526.jpg
Rendering provided
Rendering provided
Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass is scheduled to start construction in June on its JA BizTown/JA Finance Park, which will transform 13,000 square feet of what was formerly The Learning Center at Linlee (TLC) on Spurr Road into an interactive mall for hands-on lessons about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
The facility, developed in partnership with Fayette County Public Schools, is scheduled to open for pilot programs with local schools in late fall. The project will eventually be made available to students from nearby Central Kentucky counties as well for living lessons in economics and community.
“Students will be able to see commerce come to life,” said FCPS Superintendent Manny Caulk in a release. “The new facility will not replace JA’s classroom components – it will only add more opportunities for students to connect what they learn in school with what they need to succeed as adults.”
JA volunteers and classroom teachers will prepare the students prior to their field trips to the new facility with a 10-hour curriculum that correlates to core content in multiple subjects while incorporating 21st-century job skills. In BizTown, fifth-graders will hold simulated jobs at the bank, utility company, restaurant, retail outlet and more. In the Finance Park, eighth-grade students will learn personal and family budgeting skills as they balance practical scenarios involving transportation, housing, food, health care, investments, philanthropy and banking.
Both BizTown and the Finance Park will be staffed by JA members and business leaders, as well as other volunteers, including parents. Classroom follow-up will focus on exploring career options and setting realistic life goals.
“We prepare these kids for the real world, and they get a taste of it,” said David Royse, JA chairman.
The Learning Center at Linlee (TLC), which has been housed in the former Linlee Elementary on Spurr Road since it opened in 2009, will move to its permanent home on Price Road.