Reese is participating in one big event soon called Ameritowne, (sponsored by a kids bank) to teach kids about money, economics, investing, banking etc.. The kids basically run a town for a day as well the 13 businesses there including a bank, investment company, radio & tv station, parcel service, warehouse, hospital, market, snack shop, college, travel co, auto & appliance repair, Newspaper & Towne Hall. Each child has their own checking account, pays bills, invests in a mutual fund, donates to charity, sells products or services, potentially gets tickets from the police and has to appear before a judge, perhaps gets injuries and has to go to the hospital (and pay the bill), gets a paycheck and deposits it in the bank, gets to shop, & participates in creating a logo and slogan for the business they work for.
We spent 2 full days preparing the kids for the day long event, they all interviewed for jobs, each business had a business manager, accountant, and customer service people. We wrote out checks and deposit slips, studied investments and risk, researched charities, designed postage stamps (for a contest) and learned about profit and loss, pricing and supply & demand.
Reese got a job at the Travel Service selling products (chocolate airplanes, hawaiian leis, bookmarks and compasses) and rides on the flight simulator. He was a bit nervous on the day of the event.. because he did not know what it would be like.. how do you ever know what something will be like before you do it??? that spurred a discussion on openmindedness... ok.. he will be open ..
The day of the event was awesome, Reese said it was the best day of his life.. he had a blast. He did get cited by a policewoman (I told her he could not help it, genetics and all), he did go to college and took a 5 minute computer course and got his degree (only slight parental pressure there), he did shop and spend all his money (they were supposed to), and he was awarded Best Employee of the Travel Shop by his business manager for always smiling and being so helpful and good natured.
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