Junior Achievement of South Dakota

Over the past 56 years Junior Achievement of South Dakota (JA) has inspired and prepared young people to succeed in a global economy. Through real-world learning in classrooms, JA reaches over 54,000 students each year with lessons in financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship. 

In 2023, JA introduced JA Finance Park, an immersive, hands-on simulation that allows students to take on adult roles with a career, salary, family circumstances and bills. They learn how to build a monthly budget under those circumstances. With a two-year $100,000 South Dakota Fund Financial Literacy grant, JA purchased a mobile unit, the software and hardware to run the simulation and the volunteer training materials to facilitate JA Finance Park for the first two years. “Junior Achievement of South Dakota is incredibly grateful to the South Dakota Community Foundation for their support of our new, immersive student experience,” said JA President and CEO Kayla Eltreim. “JA Finance Park will help students understand the need for and importance of philanthropy and supporting their community for the future.” 

To prepare them for this four-hour simulation, students complete up to 13 in-class sessions taught by their classroom teacher. They use this information to visit 20 stations during the simulation and receive coaching from volunteers to purchase items within their budget. They face real-life choices like housing, groceries, insurance and savings, giving them a powerful look into what financial responsibility really means. 

Students often leave Finance Park with a new outlook: “I didn’t realize how much it costs to live,” one participant said. “It made me want to start saving now.” Over the past two years, 3,195 middle and high school students from 12 schools participated in the experience, thanks to 547 volunteers and 90 teachers who led 32 simulation days across South Dakota. Each student gained a full day of immersive learning that connected classroom lessons with real-world experience. SDCF Senior Program Offi cer Ginger Niemann, who participated in a session, said “By the end, they weren’t just spending, they were thinking, planning, even saving. It was incredible to watch.”