By Veronica Avila | Vice President, Development, JA of South Texas
Junior Achievement of South Texas hosted 25 ninth grade students from Highlands High School at Finance Park on November 1, 2012. Highlands High School is located in the San Antonio Independent School District where 85% of the students are economically disadvantaged. Volunteers from Accenture, UTSA College of Business and H-E-B worked with these students and shared personal experiences, assisted them with making budget decisions, and discussed career and life choices.
JA Finance Park is a program dedicated to educating middle grade students in the basics of financial literacy: budgeting, investing, managing risk - all while reinforcing the value of education and how it affects one’s future. Students becomeempowered with the skills and inspiration needed to create a better tomorrow for themselves and our community.
During the one-day simulation, Highlands High School student became “an adult for the day”. They were assigned a fictional life situation and experienced firsthand the real-life challenges of making personal budgeting decisions for themselves and their family. After calculating their Net Monthly Income for their fictional salary they received, and while mentored by adult volunteers, the students visited 19 business kiosks that represented a different budget category such as housing, transportation, health insurance, groceries, and utilities. Through this interactive process, students grasped the relevance of what they learn in the classroom to the real world, and gained a better understand of the relationship between income and lifestyle
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