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SALT LAKE CITY -- Welcome to Junior Achievement City. Population: about 80 fifth-graders, all in the middle of a busy day at work.
Utah business leaders ate lunch Wednesday just feet away from the potential business leaders of the future. It was part of Utah Saves Week -- a push between the state and Deseret Management Corporation's Imagine a Happier You program to encourage families to take control of their finances.
Utah Saves Week!
February 22-28
Join the Utah Saves Challenge, which features 5 challenges issued throughout the week aimed at helping you gain financial freedom.Abby Nielsen, 10, spent five weeks in class learning about check writing, cashing and loans. Now she's putting that knowledge to use.
"It's really easy once you get used to it," Abby said.
Wesley Terry, 11, was the manager of Select Health. His experience taught him a tough lesson about money.
"You have to work for it, that's probably the hardest thing," he said.
The city, located on the fourth floor of Discovery Gateway, has it all: a grocery store, a bank, even the Deseret News.
Organizers make a special effort to target at-risk schools. They see kids who come in with no big dreams leave with a different attitude.
They see they can be successful in the world of business; they can be anyone they want to be. That's really rewarding," said Christy Tribe, senior vice president of development for the Junior Achievement City program.
As current civic leaders looked on, the city hummed along as usual.
For more information on Junior Achievement City CLICK HERE.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
