Learning to Earn at Exchange City

There’s no time like 7th grade to learn about jobs and checking accounts and paying rent.

Eileen Wheeler Sheehan, President of ABLE is spending Wednesday, June 8th with 100 future workers from Kuss Middle School. Exchange City is a nationwide program that offers young learners the experience of running a city and its businesses for a day.

Volunteers from the Fall River Rotary Club will accompany the city’s Kuss Middle School students to the “city in a box”, on the Johnson and Wales campus in Providence. In preparation, eager students have already read classified ads for jobs ranging from mayor to waiter. They have been interviewed and hired for the many jobs of a city.

They will jump right into their new offices at Exchange City Wednesday morning, ready to conduct business, make (or lose) money, pay taxes and “earn” a paycheck.

By the end of the day, students will be able to see their profit and loss statement. The adults will be able to retreat to their everyday careers.

“It’s never to early to learn what you like to do to make a paycheck,”. says Eileen. “At ABLE, we spend thousands of hours a year interviewing adults who are unhappy with their jobs, or who have no idea what job they want. Exploring different jobs is a great way to find out what you like.”

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