Adults for a day!

From elected officials to physicians, construction workers, financial advisors and more, it takes a lot of different people playing a variety of roles to make a town operate.

That’s one of the lessons Nodaway Valley’s 39 fifth graders brought home from a recent experience where they were able to pretend to be working adults for the day in a fictitious place called BizTown.

The class is taught by Corinne Bond and Kaylee Stone, and they began preparing students for the trip to JA Biztown after Christmas breka. The event was Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Des Moines. The program is designed to combine in-class learning with a simulated town experience so students learn the ins and outs of running a successful small business, managing a debit card and checking account, as well as working as a tem.

One of the main objectives of the program is money management, and local sponsor for Nodaway Valley to go to this event was Union State Bank.

Each student had a job at BizTown. For instance, Ace Pickrell was its director of town improvement. He was then promoted to town treasurer because another student in that role was elected mayor.

Aaron Engles was a financial advisor and chief financial officer at the financial center.

“I had to pick three stocks and the citizens had to buy the stocks,” Engles said. “If the citizens picked the right one that jumped the most they got money. It reminded me how much we use computers because I had to use the iPad to pick the stocks.”

Amelia Freeland was a physician in the clinic. Kysa Shelley portrayed a CFO of construction. Students working as construction workers were given the task of assembling a wood bench at BizTown, and teachers report they finished the bench — not a lot of students from other districts have been able to put everything together and finish it.

There was a town disc jockey who played music throughout the day, and students could pay them to play their requests. There was also a town newspaper that published ads and photos of Nodaway Valley’s students participating.

BizTown was located in a large warehouse. Throughout the perimeter of the space were the various storefronts students worked in. There were times of the day when the stores were open and other times they were closed. During times the town was closed, students would go listen to speeches from elected officials, such as the mayor.

“I thought it was going to be a lot bigger, but it was still a lot of fun,” Pickrell said.

The NV fifth graders were able to have nine storefronts open during the day.

“When we walked into the door there was a hallway with a doorway on the left, and that’s where everything was. There was the healthcare clinic, the lemonade center and all different stores,” Freeland said. “It was like a big rectangle. Over here were the tables where you could eat.”

“It was big and a little overwhelming sometimes to find all the different stores,” Shelley said.

While Bond graduated from Nodaway Valley, she did not have the opportunity to participate in BizTown when she was a student, so she enjoyed the experience just as much as the students. Numerous parent volunteers joined the students on the trip, but the students took the lead throughout the day in carrying out their parts in BizTown.

“It was fun to see how the kids interacted with each other,” Bond said. “To be honest, before we went I was very nervous. I had no idea if they were going to be able to do it, but when we got there, it was so relaxing. Ms. Stone and I could just stand back and watch. It was so relieving to know they did know what they were doing to run this town.’