KeyBank & Young Americans Team Up To Provide Financial Literacy Education To Thousands Of Students

Young Americans Center for Financial Education is pleased to announce that KeyBank and the KeyBank Foundation, both committed to encouraging personal financial literacy, have joined in a financial partnership increase the reach of Young AmeriTowne On the Road.

On the Road is Young Americans’ most important initiative, taking the flagship educational program, Young AmeriTowne, into smaller and rural communities, serving more at-risk students. Young AmeriTowne is a unique “hands-on, real-life” lesson in free enterprise that introduces young people between the ages of 10 to 12 to the basic principles of our economic system. At the program’s culminating event, students work in business teams to run their own town of nine shops for a day. KeyBank’s donation supported the construction of a new, second built environment and continues the development of the infrastructure of the On the Road experience.

“KeyBank has long been a pillar for financial literacy across the United States. In the past, they have supported our entrepreneurship program, in addition to being long-time sponsors of our Young AmeriTowne initiative,” said Young Americans Center President and CEO, Richard Martinez. “Through this new, expansive partnership, thousands more students from the Denver Metro area will be able to participate the unique Young AmeriTowne experience that so wonderfully teaches young people to be financially responsible.”

The Young AmeriTowne program offers students far more than simply the nuts and bolts of balancing checkbooks – it includes enterprise literacy, civics, community engagement, workforce development, and more, all aligned with the new Colorado educational standards. The Young AmeriTowne program:

• Provides 5th graders a hands-on experience in how money moves through a free enterprise economy;
• Is structured around a blended-learning model where teachers prepare students with 30 hours of classroom lessons using comprehensive resources provided by Young Americans Center for Financial Education; and
• Culminates in a day in towne where students working in business teams run their own economy of nine businesses and a local government.

Young AmeriTowne On the Road debuted in October 2014 in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. The program has since travelled to Pueblo, Grand Junction, Greeley and the Denver metro area. Upcoming stops include Durango. Since its launch, the program has already reached 2,392 students at small and at-risk urban schools with expected reach of over 5,100 students in the first two school years. Thank you KeyBank for your continued support of Young Americans! Learn more about Young AmeriTowne On the Road here.