Students help raise $5,000 for Junior Achievement

The Exchange City Bowl-a-thon returned to Bloomington Saturday, after a few years absence. The event raised funds for the Junior Achievement Exchange City -- a program for elementary students in central Indiana.\nJunior Achievement is a non-profit international organization found in over 70 countries. In central Indiana, the program serves fifth-graders in 32 counties. \nThe money raised from this event goes directly towards the Exchange City Program, which started in Indianapolis. \nSenior Spencer Brooks, the Bloomington Bowl-a-thon coordinator, said the program, "Gives kids a real-world experience at a very early age. They learn about how the world works."\nExchange City is essentially a miniature city inside a building in Indianapolis. Students operate all of the businesses and agencies in the city. According to the Junior Achievement Web site, this includes banks, the post-office, snack shops, a broadcast center and city hall. \nStudents not only get first-hand experience running a city, the Web site said, "A visit to Junior Achievement Exchange City also teaches responsibility, leadership, decision-making and team building."\nThe students spend six weeks in the classroom with business professionals learning the basics of economics, one day running the city and three weeks in the classroom concluding the program.\nKen Cary, from Junior Achievement said, "The popularity of the program has taken off."\nCary said the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. has seen the program, and before 2005, 50 cities should be serving 550,000 students.\nOliver Winery sponsored Junior Achievement's Bowl-a-thon, allowing them to waive the fees for bowlers. Eleven teams took part in the event to raise money for kids, and have fun at the same time.\nBrooks became involved with Junior Achievement last summer when he was an intern working with special events. Since he was going to be in Bloomington this year, he got an offer to become the coordinator for this event. \nSenior Candice Raybourn has been involved in Junior Achievement since 1997. \n"I wanted to come and help out," she said.\nThis helpful attitude played a tremendous role in raising money for the program. Through donations, over $5,000 was raised.\nJunior Achievement is faced with the challenge of raising $85 per student in the program, and the Bowl-a-thon is a major fundraiser.\nBrooks said he hopes the Bowl-a-thon gains popularity in the future. He said it is a successful fundraiser that benefits kids and allows those involved to have a good time as well.\nThe students in the program do not have anything spoon-fed to them when it comes to running the city for a day, Brooks said.\n"They realize they have to make decisions about how a business is run," Brooks said. "They really do it on their own"