Business Leaders Spend Day at Oxford
June 6, 2018 -- Oxford Elementary students from kindergarten through 5th grade recently had the opportunity to learn the principles of economics and business from leaders of Cleveland’s business community.
And those business leaders had the opportunity to learn just how hard it is to be an elementary school teacher.
On Friday, May 11, Oxford participated in “JA-in-a-Day,” a Junior Achievement program that places volunteers from a local corporation into classrooms for day-long lessons in entrepreneurship, economics, and financial literacy skills. Ernst and Young sent 20 volunteers representing various departments to spend the day leading lessons in Oxford’s classrooms.
Each grade level focused on how wants and needs are met by producers and consumers, with kindergarten, first and second grades focused on Ourselves, Our Families and Our Communities, while the upper grades studied more advanced concepts in Our City, Our Region, and Our Nation.
“Junior Achievement does a great job of providing materials,” said E&Y project manager, Courtney Polcar. “There are more than enough fun activities to keep the kids entertained all day.”
But she and her colleagues did admit to a “newfound respect for teachers.” “I could only do this one day a year,” said one, exhausted by the constant questions from little ones. Another lamented how hard it is to explain her job as a tax accountant to kindergartners.
Students got a lot out of the experience, even if none of the five-year-olds are versed in tax collection. Fifth grader Richard Stanley appreciated the real world advice of his class volunteer, Scott Miller.
“I want to be an NBA player but he explained that it’s always good to have a Plan B. He taught me about other ways I could still be involved in basketball even if I wasn’t a player, like being a trainer or coach or a sports broadcaster. That would be fun!”
His teacher Julie Beckles liked how the presentation tied in with the 5th grade’s yearlong focus on colleges and universities. “He really made this all come full circle in terms of taking the thing you like to do and figuring out how to turn that into a career.” She mentioned one boy who loves to play video games, so Mr. Miller helped identify all the various job opportunities that could go along with that, from graphic designer to marketing executive.
Mykaila Davis, a 5th grader in Kristi Marbury’s classroom, “got to learn how to make a resume and about all the different skills you need for certain careers. Like I want to own my own bakery, but that will take a lot more than just being a good baker.”
Principal Brigitte Pronty appreciated having a local corporate partner who could tie together each grade level’s social studies and economics curriculum with the business community and the real world.
And the Ernst and Young volunteers all agreed that the kids and teachers seemed to really value their involvement and, despite their exhaustion, they all had a lot of fun.