Rural AmeriTowne

Rural AmeriTowne is a unique hands-on lesson in free enterprise that introduces middle-school students to the basic principles of our economic system by allowing them to run their own life-like town of ten businesses in a rural setting. The program was designed to provide young people with relevant work and life skills.

At school, students engage in a variety of interactive lessons that focus on banking, civics, free enterprise, advertising, laws, philanthropy, job interviews and more. Students prepare for their day in towne by interviewing for jobs, conducting employee business meetings, and attending job-training sessions.

During their day at Rural AmeriTowne, the students-turned-citizens put into practice what they have learned in the classroom. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and swearing-in of elected government leaders will mark the official Towne opening.  Then students-turned-citizens will rush off to work in the positions they were 'hired' for, working together with their co-workers to successfully run their business:

As producers and consumers in their own economy, students quickly recognize that every decision they make affects their personal and business finances. 

• They see first-hand what happens to supply and demand as they change prices. 
• They understand the power of marketing as they lure customers away from their competitors. 
• They grasp the meaning of opportunity costs as they evaluate how to spend their salaries. 
• They begin to recognize their skills and interests from a career perspective. 

And that's only the beginning.

"Finding a curriculum that presented the students with a real life look at our country's systems of free enterprise and government filled a need that our schools have been missing for a long time."

- Holyoke Elementary School Teacher