5th grade executes business skills at Enterprise Village
Enterprise Village is a self-contained economic education program that provides a hands-on learning experience for 5th-grade students throughout Pinellas County.
2019 Trip to Enterprise Village
Prior to attending Enterprise Village, the 5th grade spent several weeks in the classroom studying basic economics and business skill sets such as writing checks, using a debit card, keeping a checkbook register, applying for a job, and working in a group. These educational objectives were put into action during Enterprise Village.
The village is set up similar to a shopping mall. During the day, the 5th-grade students worked in four of the more than 20 available businesses. The students were assigned to Kane’s Furniture, Mix 100.7 radio station, a professional business office, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Students worked in their assigned business, received paychecks, took three breaks, interacted with other businesses around the village, and had the opportunity to be consumers by making purchases in one of the business-sponsored storefronts.
“It was a wonderful educational experience and the students had a fantastic time,” said Mr. Singleton.
2018 trip to Enterprise Village
On Friday, January 19th 5th-grade students spent the day at Enterprise Village by the Stavros Institute. Enterprise Village is a self-contained economic education program that provides a hands-on learning experience unlike any other.
Our students spent six weeks in their social studies classroom with Mrs. Rowe studying economic education objectives that taught them about writing checks, using a debit card, keeping a checkbook register, applying for a job and working in a group.
These educational objectives were put into action as the students spend one day at Enterprise Village. The layout of Enterprise Village is similar to a shopping mall. During their business day, students worked in one of the 20+ businesses, took three breaks, received paychecks and had the opportunity to be consumers by making purchases in one of the business-sponsored storefronts. Without a doubt, this is considered by most students to be their best educational experience while in lower school.
“I liked that you could be with your friends and have an experience of what your parents do,” said Cole Raymer, whose job was to make pens and price products as the Bic Mechanical Engineer. “I assembled a total of 96 pens for everyone at Enterprise Village. I also learned how to do checks and balances.”
The Enterprise Village program assists students by allowing them to:
- Develop basic economic concepts
- Understand relationships between businesses and consumers
- Use quality concepts in business and consumer planning
- Develop a basic understanding of checking and savings accounts
- Understand a simple decision-making process
- Work together to satisfy customer’s expectations
