Local elementary school students were the first to explore and learn about philanthropy as Kosair for Kids celebrated the opening of its Junior Achievement (JA) storefront today. The region’s most comprehensive children’s charity celebrated with city and JA officials in the kid-sized town known as “BizTown,” a simulated town made for and run by kids from schools across the region.
More than 100 students from Wilt Elementary were on a field trip to BizTown during today’s event. Thousands of students every year will experience Kosair for Kids’ storefront, which teaches the importance of philanthropy. The JA BizTown and JA Finance Park capstone programs combine a teacher-led curriculum with a hands-on experience at a simulated town to inspire and prepare elementary and middle school students with the skills they’ll need to be active and productive citizens in adulthood. The town also includes a bank, a restaurant, a grocery, public safety organizations, and media to simulate a functioning society.
“BizTown will shape future generations of philanthropists the way our founders shaped our community when they recognized the need for an orthopedic children’s hospital in 1923,” Kosair for Kids President Barry Dunn said. “They partnered with this caring community and created something that mattered, something that today is the most comprehensive children’s charity in our region. Today, we are telling children to dream big, to be the future catalysts who create a world in which all children live life to the fullest.”
This news comes one week after another big announcement by Kosair for Kids. Formerly known as Kosair Charities, the 100-year-old organization changed its name to better communicate its mission as it celebrates an exciting new chapter with a renewed focus on helping children succeed as Kosair for Kids.
Thousands of students from across the region participate in the BizTown and Finance Park experiences every year. JA’s unique experience is composed of several storefronts allowing students to simulate applying and interviewing for jobs, keeping a work schedule, opening a business, managing budgets, and making intelligent financial decisions, ultimately connecting the dots between what they learn in school and the ‘real world.’ The Kosair for Kids storefront will demonstrate philanthropy’s crucial role in society and highlight the organization’s mission and pillars of support–healthcare, research, education, social services, and advocacy.
“This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate our past while embracing the future of Kosair for Kids,” said Dunn. “Everything we do is for today’s kids, and their kids, and their kids’ kids.”
Other storefronts at Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana’s BizTown and Finance Park include Brown-Forman, Chase, Delta of Kentucky, Ford, GE Appliances, Indiana University Southeast, KFC, Kroger, KY CPA, LG&E KU, Marriott, Marshall Realty, Papa John’s, Publix, Sametec, Stock Yards Bank, Swope, Texas Roadhouse, UAW Local 862, UPS and WDRB.