Third graders open pizza joint, 30% off on Mondays

Last Friday I finished my 5th session teaching one of my twin’s 3rd grade class. I had volunteered to teach a program called “The City” via Junior Achievement. The note from school looking for volunteers may-have-well had my name on it, I felt so compelled to volunteer. Why?

• I love teaching
• I’d love to meet Robert’s classmates
• I’d get to share my business knowledge
• One of the bloggers I read had posted about teaching their son’s class (forgot who, sorry) and said it was an opportunity not to pass up.
• And I knew I would learn more than they would.

The JA material covered some basic business/school/life skills and integrated those into what goes on in a city. My favorite, and one of the most grown-up lessons:

The kids divided into small groups, each opening their own restaurant. We walked thru several decisions that had to be made. It was interesting how most of the groups went for the lowest pricing. Then, when they all wanted to hire the same chef, I told them the team with the higher pricing could offer to pay him more and would get him, a surprising lesson to some. The last task was to come up with two sentences to tell people why they should come to their restaurant–it was interesting to hear how they positioned their business.

Be decision makers:
The lesson I tried to impart over the five sessions was that business is fun and interesting. I told them that I wanted to be a park ranger when I was a kid because who would want to be in an office all day. But over time, business is a whole lot more interesting and satisfying than keeping an eye on a park.

More men:
I’m little disappointed that more men weren’t leading these sessions for the other classes. (Elementary kids see almost exclusively female teachers.) Hopefully I can inspire someone else out there to share their passion for business with kids thru JA…or scouts or church. These kids really need to be prepared for their future in the information economy, and the decision making skills that it requires, and some role models to help set them in the right direction.