Jacob went to Young Ameritown with his class on Friday. I know that the grandparents are aware of what this is so this post is primarily for them so that they can see what it looks like. I took pictures for the school yearbook so that is why there is so many of random kids you have never heard of. Essentially, it is a place that the kids go to that is set up like a miniature town and they have to run the whole thing. They have been gearing up for this for a month or so and have learned about commerce, banking, balancing your budget and your checkbook, planning for life's unexpected things, etc. Then they go to this place where they get to put it all into practice. They had to interview for jobs and everything.
You could also get pulled into the dr.'s office for an emergency and have to pay a co-pay, you could be handed a card that says that your car needs to be serviced and you have to go pay them. Also the utility company would come around to the businesses and change filters and light bulbs and leave a bill. The shop's accountant would then have to write a check and pay them. They also had checkbooks and debit cards that they had to use and balance. And the laws of the town, as the kids set them up were "when you pass the bank you have to say "cha-ching", when you pass the radio station you had to say "wassup homey" and when you passed a police officer you had to say "it wasn't me". If you broke any of the laws and a police officer saw you, they would take you to Town Hall where you had to go in front of the judge and pay a fine.
It is such a valuable learning experience and I think everyone should have to go through a program like this. So anyway here are the pictures for the Grandma's but you are all welcome to look at them of course. Jacob is only in a few pictures and his job was TV Station Manager. He wanted the DJ position but didn't get it. It is just as well because he didn't have any current music that other kids would want to listen to on his MP3 player. lol. He can't stand the current pop music. That's my boy! And anyway, he got real comfortable, real fast being the boss. He lust let the "my employees" roll off his tongue so easily. The kid cracks me up!
