Central York to host new Junior Achievement program

Sept. 30--Junior Achievement of South Central Pennsylvania will be bringing a new program to encourage financial literacy to the Central York School District and other York-area schools this year.

The organization provides programming, including BizTown and STEM summits, to expose students to careers in the business field and the skills necessary in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

New program: Representatives from Junior Achievement were at Central's school board meeting earlier this month to give an update on the programming and introduce Real Life, a forum and day of activities for high school students that introduces students to concepts such as building a budget, dealing with student debt and other issues that young adults face.

Organizers at Junior Achievement wanted to expand its financial literacy programs following the success of the STEM summits last year, said Heidi Potter, vice president of programs at the organization.

The program will be held at Central on April 1 at no cost to the district. It will be based upon an existing Finance Park program that Junior Achievement offers to high school finance classes. But the daylong forum is a way to reach all students with activities and games, Potter said.

Program details, games: The part based on Finance Park will assign each student a career, net income, an amount in savings and expenses, Potter said. Each student will be put into a small group with other people of different financial backgrounds and will be challenged to build a budget together. Financial advisers will be on hand to assist students and answer questions, Potter said.

The other part of the day will include games and activities such as Insurance Jeopardy and Financial Jenga, Potter said. A large adaptation of the board game Life will be laid out on the gym floor and students will also go through a version of that game with different expenses that young adults might face, Potter said.

The Central York Middle School will also be hosting a "JA for a Day" program for eighth-graders, said Principal Ed McManama. That program will blend age-appropriate activities for those students related to financial literacy and career preparation.

Junior Achievement brings the business community and education together, said Tom Russell, president of the South Central Pennsylvania organization. Central York is one of the top districts in the area in terms of student participation in Junior Achievement programs, Russell said.

-- Reach Nikelle Snader at [email protected].

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