{"id":437161,"date":"2026-09-16T00:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T00:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/437161\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T00:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T00:28:26","slug":"ja-discovery-center-opens-in-richardson-isd-with-biztown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/437161\/","title":{"rendered":"JA Discovery Center Opens in Richardson ISD With BizTown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Richardson ISD fifth-graders will visit JA BizTown, a miniature version of the city designed for experiential economic learning. [Photo: JA Dallas]<\/p>\n

A simulated Main Street in Richardson will help local students gain some sense about dollars.<\/p>\n

The new JA Discovery Center at the Greenwood Hills Learning Center houses the mini-Richardson, complete with storefronts and landmarks. The center opened Aug. 27. Starting Sept. 15, students from the Richardson Independent School District will learn about financial literacy and career readiness in this real-world setting.<\/p>\n

Sponsors of the storefronts include Richardson ISD, Toyota, State Farm, FedEx, CORE Construction, the Credit Union of Texas and Glenn Partners.<\/p>\n

Hands-on economic and financial lessons<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Richardson City Hall in JA BizTown [Photo: JA Dallas]<\/p>\n

After studying business and economics in the classroom, RISD fifth-graders will visit JA BizTown. There, they will apply for jobs, run stores, open bank accounts, pay taxes, handle payroll, and take out and repay business loans.<\/p>\n

Next spring, JA Finance Park will open at the JA Discovery Center. In this program, seventh-graders will build a personal budget using hypothetical figures, evaluate financial choices and manage real-life scenarios.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a fifth-grader realizing they could own a business someday, and a seventh-grader understanding that the smart financial choices they make today can shape the life they build tomorrow,\u201d Chris LaTurno, president and CEO of JA Dallas, said at the event.<\/p>\n

The program will serve more than 5,000 RISD students in its first year and about 7,000 at full capacity, JA Dallas said.<\/p>\n

\u2018New generation of dreams\u2019<\/p>\n

The JA Discovery Center occupies the former Greenwood Hills Elementary, which closed as part of RISD\u2019s recent school consolidation plan<\/a>. The BizTown component harkens back to a similar program, Enterprise City, which opened in 1985 at Canyon Creek Elementary School but has since ended.<\/p>\n

Richardson ISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum said in a statement that shutting down Greenwood Hills represented one of her \u201cmost difficult moments\u201d on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we delivered a promise that we were going to continue to invest in it and make it something special for their students and for generations to come,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have taken a space that, if we allowed, could be empty of dreams, and instead it hosts a whole new generation of dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on JA Dallas and RISD<\/p>\n

Richardson ISD, which encompasses 49 schools and 35,000 students, is among several Dallas-area districts that participate in JA Dallas. During the 2025-26 school year, JA Dallas served more than 28,000 students, aided by nearly 1,800 volunteers, the organization said.<\/p>\n

Over the past 70 years, JA Dallas has reached nearly 1 million students through financial literacy, workplace readiness and entrepreneurship education.<\/p>\n

\tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

North Texas has plenty to see, hear, and watch.\u00a0Here are our editors’ picks. Plus, you’ll find more selections to “save the date.”<\/p>\n

\t\"Marching<\/a><\/p>\n

After seven years in Houston, the Pepsi National Battle of the Bands showcase is relocating to Arlington\u2019s AT&T Stadium. Organizers say the move reflects the region\u2019s growing pull for cultural and sports programming and a chance to put HBCU marching bands\u2019 artistry, scholarship funding and decades of tradition in front of the region\u2019s business and alumni networks.<\/p>\n

\t\"Assorted<\/a><\/p>\n

Located at DFW\u2019s Terminal A, the Bonton Farms retail store will introduce travelers to the nonprofit\u2019s mission while selling local honey, handmade jams, goat milk soaps, grab-and-go food items, apparel and gifts. It is the organization\u2019s first location outside South Dallas.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The university\u2019s Property Lab features two full-scale, two-story homes, and the Auto Lab contains nearly 30 electric, hybrid and traditional vehicles, supporting a claims workforce of 23,000.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dallas-based foundation is partnering with New York City worker advocacy nonprofit Lift Our Voices on the free Agentic AI Academy, a five-day pilot for community college learners.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

New CBRE research points to a maturing tech workforce in North Texas, fueled partly by the Y\u2019all Street financial services boom.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The North Texas technology organization will induct Pinnacle Group\u2019s Nina Vaca into its Hall of Fame and name BRIX Holdings\u2019 Sherif Mityas its Corporate CEO honoree at its 26th annual gala Aug. 28 in Plano. It also announced finalists across 10 other categories.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since rolling out the service in Dallas in February, Waymo has autonomously chauffeured some 150,000 customers. The company also is testing at Dallas Love Field and preparing to run its vehicles on area freeways.<\/p>\n

\t\"Shachar<\/a><\/p>\n

Rabbe joins the workforce technology company from cybersecurity firm Acronis, where he was chief financial officer.<\/p>\n

\t\"AT&T<\/a><\/p>\n

The two organizations will unify business functions under the AT&T PAC umbrella while each keeps its own artistic identity and leadership, with combined operations expected in early 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richardson ISD fifth-graders will visit JA BizTown, a miniature version of the city designed for experiential economic learning.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[76252,151495,46201,146316,151496,151497,151498,2231,160,162,161,5810,139573],"class_list":["post-437161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-career-readiness","tag-chris-laturno","tag-financial-literacy","tag-greenwood-hills","tag-ja-biztown","tag-ja-dallas","tag-ja-finance-park","tag-junior-achievement","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-richardson-isd","tag-tabitha-branum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}