Real-World Learning in a Safe Setting for Local Students
June 28, 2007 | Print this page | Share This | Email this page
While math theorems, mitosis and William Yeats are integral parts of any student's education, most real-world skills such as balancing a checkbook, paying taxes and creating a successful business plan are learned later in life, usually through trial and error.
Now, with the support of Johnson and Wales University, middle school students from Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Connecticut can participate in a program that offers a new approach to teaching students those essential skills — Exchange City.
Rhode Island's Exchange City officially opened for business on May 3, offering local middle school students access to the largest hands-on education program in the world. The Exchange City experience combines a seven-week curriculum taught in the schools with a field trip to Johnson and Wales University's Paramount Building, where Exchange City is housed.
The "city" is a 20,000-square-foot space populated by a bank, city hall, radio station, retail stores, a newspaper, a sandwich shop and everything one would expect from a real-world city. In fact, it's becoming more real as local sponsors such as Ronzio Pizza are opening up shop in Exchange City, with the students at the helm.
The students take on roles such as politicians, reporters, bankers and restaurant owners — paying rent, taxes and utilities, making payroll, even taking out and repaying business loans. Before students participate in the program, they must appoint the mayor of the city, establish the laws of their city, and learn about basic banking, financing and business planning.
"Exchange City teaches students the fundamental skills they need to be an active part of our economy," says Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Saul Kaplan. "This program reflects the best thinking about bringing hands-on, real-world knowledge to our students in a way that excites and inspires."
The benefits of Exchange City are staggering. Since the program began in 1980, students across the country have tapped into this unique learning opportunity. The program helps students apply the academics they learned in math, civics, social studies, language and technology to the real-life roles they take on in their city.
Students who complete the program demonstrate a better understanding of economics principles, employment skills, government roles and personal finance than their peers, according to independent evaluations of the program. They also understand their civic and economic roles in society and discover that their decisions have consequences as they pay off bank loans, run a business and interact with customers.
This year, nearly 6,000 students will participate in the Exchange City experience, with more than 10,000 expected in 2008.
"Exchange City will have a profound and life-long impact on students who participate," says Ken Fish, Executive Director of Exchange City Providence. "They will have a real opportunity to develop real skills for real careers and Rhode Island's future workforce."
