Along with other members of Metro Milwaukee Society of Human Resource Management (MM SHRM), Chief Operating Officer Pamela M. Zacharias participated in a day of volunteering at Junior Achievement (JA) BizTown.
JA BizTown allows 4th to 6th-grade students to participate in the operations of a simulated town. The activities allow students to operate businesses, manage restaurants, write checks, and even vote for mayor. In addition, this opportunity allows the students to see the real world’s responsibilities by helping them learn money management skills and experience business practices as well as different economic concepts.
This was Pamela’s second time volunteering at JA BizTown. When asked what drew her to this volunteer activity, she said, “JA BizTown is so well run and is such an incredible, fun, learning opportunity for the kids.” She described how the kids had to prepare for the experience long before they even got to spend the day there. Volunteers like Pamela are just there to guide or assist, not do anything for them. Each child is given a particular role and has multiple tasks to accomplish. All the tasks are spelled out for each role in binders at their workstation. “It is so awesome to see one of the kids figure something out or complete their task…you can just see the pride or satisfaction in their faces.” Then, after working all morning to earn two paychecks, the kids get to shop for souvenirs from their day and BizTown.
