EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Nearly a year after crews broke ground on the new Junior Achievement Discovery Center of the CSRA, the grand opening arrived Thursday.
It’s part of a statewide program where middle schoolers can learn business and real-world finance.
Applying the concepts they’ve learned in classes, they participate in an immersive simulated experience of running a business, earning a paycheck and managing their finances. Nearly 20 storefronts were planned for the center.
“Today, I imagined what this space looked like originally. It was an empty, pretty rough looking old warehouse and there’s more of that warehouse on the other side of those walls but it’s extraordinary how we can transform spaces and it’s particularly special when we transform those spaces in the name of doing good things for young people,” said John Hancock, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Georgia.
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Students from both the Richmond County and Columbia County school districts will spend time at the center, 4395 Riverwatch Parkway, as part of their curriculum.
Hancock told News 12 last year that he got a call from Steven Flynt, the Columbia County superintendent, because he’s seen other discovery centers in Georgia and wanted to bring one here.
“That partnership with two great counties is going to provide an experience for students unlike no other,” said Flynt.
“Students are really learning acumen, they’re learning financial literacy, they’re taking lessons from the classroom and bringing it here and experiencing with their team of students, just learning at really high levels and being engaged in their learning,” said Flynt.
Both Richmond County and Columbia County superintendents saw the center in action, seeing the joy in their kids’ faces made the entire process worth it.
Kenneth Bradshaw, superintendent of Richmond…
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