Random Access

Tuesday – 09 November 2021
Today, I had the opportunity to volunteer/chaperone for Team DiVa’s class, as they participated in the Junior Achievement City “BizTown.”

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular program allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. The program helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.

There was an additional bonus: The girls had NO IDEA that I’d be there.

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That was a definite #win.

Both ladies were the CEOs of their respective businesses:

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I didn’t work with either of the ladies. I was assigned as a volunteer in City Hall. I worked with the Mayor (CEO), Town Treasurer (CFO), Attorney, Two Account Executives, and a DJ.

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Twenty businesses were represented, ranging from retail, food services, utilities, a school district, news and television outlets, and even sports. Each business started the day by taking out a loan from one of the two banks; kids were then responsible for making sure that their businesses made money, paid payroll, created and/or paid invoices, and more. Businesses could also create ads to run on the radio or television – which created revenue for the media outlets and hopefully turned into awareness – and sales – for the business featured in the ad.

The morning opened with an opening meeting and remarks from the Mayor, along with speeches from a few of the business’ CEOs. Diana, gave one of the opening speeches.

One of the things that I wasn’t aware of until the day was over: She didn’t have a script for her speech. (There WAS a script for her speech, but her volunteers didn’t tell her to bring it. *facepalm*) She ad-libbed her entire opening, based on things she heard from some of the CEOs who spoke before her! She was so calm and cool about it that I – and I’m sure no one else, aside from possibly the JA staff – had no idea that she was going completely off-the-cuff with her remarks.

After the speeches, it was off to the proverbial races!

At first, it was a little like herding cats – this was largely due to the amped-up energy of the kids, trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. (As volunteers, we were there to support and guide, not to do the jobs for them.) Some things were done “a little” out of order. Some things got overlooked, until someone realized that something was missing. But, after a while, they got the hang of things and the day, while hectic and a bit frenetic, moved along nicely.

The day ended with a closing meeting, during which Vanessa gave one of the CEO speeches.

In all, it was a great event and I was glad to have been part of it. I was also incredibly proud of not only the ladies, but also of the City Hall employees and how well they did.