JA Finance Park Advanced

JA Finance Park is Junior Achievement’s capstone curriculum for personal financial planning and career exploration. This teacher-led classroom curriculum culminates with a visit to JA Finance Park, a realistic on-site or mobile facility, or virtually in the classroom, where students engage with volunteers and put into practice what they’ve learned by developing a personal budget. An advanced curriculum and simulation give high school students a more personal focus. Students select their career and define their future lifestyle and financial goals. The advanced simulation allows students to see the long-term impact of their education, savings, and credit decisions.

Following participation in the program, students will be able to:

• Take a deep dive into financial consequences of life choices and decisions impacting long-term goals.

• Choose a “journey into adulting,” where they select personas based on career and education selections.

• Navigate financial decisions through various life stages, budgeting beyond 1 month.

JA Finance Park Advanced is a part of the JA Financial Literacy Pathway and JA Work and Career Readiness Pathway and is recommended for high school students (grades 9–12). Lessons are offered in either a traditional classroom presentation format or a project-based learning (PBL) format. Both traditional and PBL formats provide educators a method of delivery that best meets the needs of their students. It culminates in a hands-on budgeting simulation that is implemented either at a JA Finance Park facility, mobile unit, or virtual site.

While it is not mandatory for students to have completed the JA Finance Park (Entry Level) curriculum to have success with the advanced curriculum, it is advisable that students have background in the following financial literacy concepts before participating in the advanced curriculum: earning and income, financial goals, insurance, spending and saving, credit, and investing.

As part of this program, JA teachers and volunteers are encouraged to use the resources available in JA Connect™ Learning Pathways, located at https://connect.ja.org/. This self-guided experience includes interactives, JA Digital Career Book™, and games and apps for student use.

JA programs support national and state standards in reading, mathematics, social studies, and work and career readiness. See below for more information on alignment with national and state standards.