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AmeriTowne On the Road, presented by CoBank, just returned from five fabulous weeks in Grand Junction! The visit was a huge success, with 911 students from 15 schools experiencing in this hands-on program in free enterprise.
When I talked with my fellow On the Road staff members, by far our favorite part of the trip to Grand Junction this year was that we had such amazing students and teachers participating. It was clear that teachers had thoroughly prepared their students–teachers, thank you for your time teaching the AmeriTowne curriculum so well!
We are also so appreciative of the support we received from the Grand Junction community. We had volunteers help us out almost every day. Alpine Bank sent members of their team, and they sent sunglasses for each student to take home as a souvenir. Parent volunteers took time out of their day to spend in AmeriTowne. The Mesa County Valley School District 51 staff provided space in the former high school building, and they helped promote our visit on local media. We felt like celebrities! Finally, whenever we went out to eat, purchase groceries, or run other errands, people were genuinely excited to hear about the program. They thanked us for being there, and asked when we are coming back.
My favorite memory from this trip was a student who won the trivia contest in the Towne Hall. His trivia question stood out among all the rest: “How many Super Bowl rings does Peyton Manning have?” When he found out that he won, the look of pride and joy on his face is something I’ll never forget!
Experiences like this trip to Grand Junction are such a great reminder of why we have these programs that teach financial literacy in a fun, hands-on way. These students learned to much, and they had so much fun at the same time!