Social Studies

AmeriTowne at Young Americans Center for Financial Education

The funding for this program runs out December of 2006! If you would like to attend using funds from the Daniels grant, please schedule your excursion for the fall of 2006.

Young AmeriTowne is located at 3550 East First Avenue (just west of Colorado Blvd.) and also has a new location at 401 South Pierce Street in Lakewood, one block south of Alameda. Young AmeriTowne is a unique hands-on lesson in free enterprise that introduces young people to the basic principles of our economic system by allowing them to run their own town and economy. In order to make this opportunity available to students in Denver, the Daniels Fund awarded DPS with a grant that will allow us to send many of our 5th graders to AmeriTowne for the next two years!

The AmeriTowne curriculum is flexible enough for teachers to work it into their daily schedules in whatever format works best. The program begins when teachers attend a day-long orientation to receive instruction on the curriculum and program mechanics. Teachers then integrate the curriculum into their class over a period of time that works best for them, preparing students for their simulation roles at AmeriTowne. During that time, students learn how an economy works, how businesses operate and how to manage personal and business finances. It is an important program that teaches young people what it takes to be a productive, contributing member of society through a real-life, hands-on learning experience.

The assessment and culminating activity of the AmeriTowne curriculum is a day-long visit to AmeriTowne. The students will arrive at either 3550 East First Avenue, just west of Colorado Blvd., (or their new location at 401 South Pierce Street in Lakewood, one block south of Alameda) and become citizens of AmeriTowne, where groups of students will engage in a simulation and run different businesses or play the role of mayor, judge or other public official. Although businesses compete for customers' dollars, each shop serves a unique purpose in the economy. Goods and services are bought and sold by each of the 17 businesses around Towne. Each business supports one another and the economy as a whole. For more details, visit AmeriTowne online.

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If you have any questions regarding this website, or if you would like to contribute ideas, content or have other suggestions, please contact Gilberto Muñoz, Social Studies Coordinator at:

Email: Gilberto_Munoz@dpsk12.org
Phone: (303)764-3632
Fax:     (303)764-3890
Write: Curriculum and Instruction Department
            900 Grant Street Room 605
           Denver, CO 80203

Last Updated: September 18, 2006