Summer Camp Kick-off – Young AmeriTowne2!

Summer Camps 2015 started with a bang at Young Americans Center for Financial Education!  For our first week of summer camp, we are running two different camps: Running Your Own Business and Young AmeriTowne².  Both provide hands-on lessons in money and economics, and both camps are a fun way to spend a week of summer!

Affectionately called RYOB, our first business camp of the summer is for students who’ve just completed 3^rd or 4^th grade.  Camp Director Maura McInerney will be telling us all about this exciting camp in a blog later this month, so hang tight for now!

Young AmeriTowne² is our first Towne camp of the summer.  Students who have completed 5^th or 6^th grade can participate in this camp as long as they have also run Young AmeriTowne with either their school or during the summer in one of our camps.  It’s important that young people have already completed Young AmeriTowne to attend this camp because YAT² builds upon knowledge gained in Young AmeriTowne.  For example, campers in YAT² have the opportunity to earn a larger paycheck, have more job responsibilities at work, and to think about what type of car or home they might want.  They even have to pay for some expenses like utility bills and housing payments.  To fully experience the thrills YAT², you’ll need to sign up!!  But we wanted to give you a little peak into what campers are up to this week.

Besides running AmeriTowne at the end of the week, one highlight of the week is the Savings Smarts lesson that occurred on Monday.  Campers learned about how prices are determined and they calculated price per unit to figure out which item had a better deal.  Then they participated in a blind taste test to figure out whether it makes more sense to buy a generic or brand-name product.  Food and learning—what could be better??

Basic Budgeting is another lesson that stands out as a favorite of YAT² campers.  As a 5^th or 6^th grader, did you know how much adults spent on different monthly expenses such as their rent, food, cell phone bill, and water?  Probably not!  This lesson, which students experienced on Wednesday, helps campers figure out the expenses they might have as an adult.  Students also work together to make decisions about these expenses, such as whether it would be better to ride the bus to save money for cable T.V.

Interested in learning more?  Even though it’s too late to be part of this week’s YAT² camp, there’s another YAT² camp running July 27-31 that you could attend (the camp still had a few spots left as of this publication date!).  Or be sure to register early for Summer Camps 2016—registration will open in January!