The Boy Scouts Personal Management Merit Badge

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The Boy Scouts Personal Management Merit Badge

In cooperation with The Scouts San Diego and Imperial Counties Council Junior Achievement of San Diego offers the Personal Management Merit Badge via the JA for Everyone program.
JA for Everyone is a personal budgeting simulation designed to help participants understand the link between lifestyle, education, career, and the management of personal finances in an interactive environment. JA for Everyone at JA Finance Park encourages participants to explore what it takes to balance a budget and manage a life in sunny San Diego and beyond.

The program includes three mandatory visits to the Junior Achievement facility.

Session 1: Classroom Instruction & Workbook Orientation
Session 2: JA for Everyone JA Finance Park Budgeting Simulation & Advising
Session 3: Counselor Approval & Advising

The Personal Management Merit Badge workshop series prepares participants to consider income, savings, debt, investing, insurance, and budgeting to become #RealWorldReady.

Pillars of Student Success	Entrepreneurship: Minimal	Financial Literacy: High	Work Readiness: Moderate

Program Implementation	Program Grade-Level
JA-AfterSchool	Grades 6-12

Program Concepts	Program Skills
Banking, Budgets, Buying, Careers, Choices, Consumers, Credit, Debit, Debt, Expenses, Income, Interest rates, Insurance, Investments, Government, Money, Needs, Opportunity costs, Risk, Salary, Saving, Savings, Scarcity, Social Security, Taxes, Wages, Wants.	Active listening, Analysis, Applying information, Brainstorming, Budgeting, Cause and effect, Charting, Comparing, Computation, Critical thinking, Data collection, Decision making, Filling out forms, Following directions, Listening, Math computation, Negotiation, Observation, Planning, Problem solving, Reading, Research, Role-playing, Self-reflection, Spending, Taking responsibility.

Program Sessions

Classroom Instruction & Workbook Orientation

Scouts actively participate in a 3 hour classroom instruction session designed to introduce main concepts needed to begin the 90 day budgeting activity. Working with a JA instructor and JA trained volunteers Scouts will be oriented with the workbook, understand how to document knowledge and how to access JA online resources, and advise as needed.

Session 2: JA for Everyone JA Finance Park Budgeting Simulation & Advising

The JA for Everyone budgeting workshop is a 4 hour financial literacy and budgeting simulation that immerses participants in managing a 30 day budget in San Diego. Participants are given an adult profile complete with a San Diego job and salary, family, credit score, credit and education debt. During the simulation participants apply for a home loan, car loans, choose insurance for their family, pay for childcare, and manage bills and obligations. This is the practical application of concepts discussed during session 1 and documented by Scouts over the 90 day period.

Session 3: Counselor Approval & Advising

During counselor approval day Scouts spend 3 hours at the JA facility working with Scout counselors to defend their savings and spending habits during their documented 90 day budget. Scouts and counselors go through each section of the Personal Management Merit Badge workbook to ensure requirements are met and blue cards are approved to be signed.