Target, Junior Achievement Team Up to Teach Kids Money Matters

Adult matters like saving, working, citizenship, entrepreneurship and how to manage finances are just a few of the lessons students from SC Johnson Elementary School in Racine learned Wednesday.

Designed appropriately for each grade level, program lessons are learned through interactive activities like "planting" a garden in kindergarten so children learn the importance of taking steps to provide for their needs or "building" a city in third grade to understand the importance of zoning and the roles businesses play in communities.

In fifth grade, students "start" their own companies and talk about the skills needed to fill the positions there.

The goal is to get kids thinking about the future and how education, jobs, and, of course, finances play into their coming success.

Employees from Target traveled from throughout southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois to participate in the Junior Achievement program. Joan Fergus, program manager for Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, said the program is typically done one day per week over five weeks. This year, though, they decided to pool it all into one day.

"We want to see if the kids participate more and it's easier on the volunteers to do one day," she said.

The kindergartners in Michelle Gregory's class certainly enjoyed the break from routine. Several students hugged volunteer Tony Salerno when he returned from lunch.

"They like having something different," she said.