Junior Achievement and University of Phoenix team up to help educate students on the real world

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - It's busy at the University of Phoenix shop.  It's part of the JA Biztown Educational Facility.

JA Biztown is an elementary school program for students in fourth to sixth grade.

"It's a chance for students to have an opportunity to apply what they learned in the classroom, but to be a part of a real town for a day where shops reflect the real world," said Darrell Luzzo, Junior Achievement of Central Maryland.

The program combines four weeks of in class learning sessions with a day long visit to the JA Biztown Facility.  Students can run banks, manage restaurants, read utility meters, write checks and vote.

It's all in an effort to help young people succeed in a global economy.

"We feel like an environment like this is an incredible opportunity.  Education is a global necessity and starting here in Maryland is a way that we can impact up to 20,000 students in the state of Maryland," said Josh Chumley, University of Phoenix Maryland Campus Director.

The University of Phoenix shop in JA Biztown allows students to enroll as a college student. They can participate in a brief education program and earn a certificate of completion.  Students who earn a certificate receive more money to use at a JA Biztown.

The shop also allows students to take on a number of roles including: Mayor, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Advisor and Campus Director.  Students love it.

"I'm learning how to manage money and how things in the real world work and how hard being a CEO is," said Maraleu Ciuc, fifth grader at the Banner School.

"Before I came here, I didn't know anything about checks or deposit slips or business.  I thought growing here would be fun, but coming here it got  a lot harder on me and I have learned a lot," said Ben Moreno, student.

Junior Achievement programs reach over four million students per year in 124 markets.