Gilpin County School fourth and fifth graders spent a lively day learning about financial responsibility and all the joys of modern finance at Young Ameritowne. The students ventured to the Young Americans Center for Financial Education in Denver for a well-deserved “out of school” field trip.

The interactive program allows individual students to learn about being a responsible budgeter and smart consumer, while helping them understand how free enterprise with supply and demand are part of an economy. Ameritowne also encourages civic responsibility through a role-playing mini village that mimics real life. The participants each played a different role in the pretend economic and civic structure.

Gilpin Montessori fifth grade student Devyn Hulin shared, “My favorite part of Young Ameritowne was going around to all the shops and seeing all my classmates and friends doing different things for their jobs. Part of that included seeing all the creative advertisements and the different products they were selling. What I learned from that perplexing experience is how to manage my money and not overdraft, while also learning how to keep my register organized.”

Some of the roles students could choose from include working in the mayor’s office, with a newspaper publisher, a bank, a sign and print shop, a delivery business, and a utility company. Students applied for the job and then were interviewed.

Some students learned the hard way that keeping a budget is not easy with all the demands of modern life. Whether they succeeded or not, they enjoyed learning the balance between achieving financial success while also taking care of oneself in a healthy, enjoyable way.

Ameritowne is an award-winning educational program that reaches more than half of Colorado’s students. On their website Ameritowne explains that “Research shows that a large percentage of people of all ages, incomes, and education lack the basic financial knowledge and skills to ensure longterm stability for themselves and their families. This is why we believe it is never too early to teach children about money.”