Junior Achievement of Oklahoma Breaks Ground on $4 million Experiential Learning Center

Thanks to a $4 Million expansion project, Junior Achievement of Oklahoma will be able to serve more students than ever before under one roof.

Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols spoke at the groundbreaking of the new expansion, celebrating the work Junior Achievement has done over the years for students in the Tulsa area.

“I can’t imagine what is going to be like when those young people walk into the next iteration of this facility and how wide their eyes will be and how you’ll unlock things that are special, things they didn’t even know about themselves, they’ll find out right here,” Nichols said.

Junior Achievement broke ground on the Scott H. Filstrup Experimental Learning Center Tuesday, which cost $4 Million and will combine JA BizTown with JA Finance Park in the same building. The 7,000-square-foot expansion will nearly double the number of students served, teaching them financial literacy and career-readiness. JA started in Tulsa in 2003, serving a total of 175,000 students or 8,000 students a year. Now, JA will be able to serve 264,000 students or 12,000 a year.

Filstrup spoke at the event and said, “Today, we are honoring the power of teaching… Junior Achievement has been around for 50 years, and the best of times are ahead of us.”

With this expansion, Junior Achievement of Oklahoma is reinforcing its mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. JA Finance Park is for high school students, focusing on personal financial planning, career exploration, income, expenses, savings, and credit.

“I’m excited as mayor to have a partner like JA so we can make sure that we have a future in this community that’s representative of all kids no matter what they want to do,” Nichols said.

JA President Shannan Beeler said, “The new building and the expansion we are doing allows us to double our capacity in our capstone programs.”