Schools
From Textbooks to Checkbooks
BUFSD's Pine Park Students Are Introduced to the World of Business
Brentwood, N.Y. (November 2018)—Fifth graders at Brentwood Union Free School District’s Pine Park Elementary School recently got down to business at Commerce Plaza in Levittown, New York. The hands-on educational program familiarizes students with the business community through a simulated work environment.
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The Commerce Plaza experience begins with a six-week preparation course to better acquaint students with workplace terminology, practices, and skills. Brentwood’s teachers are provided with the structure and guidance to facilitate full immersive, hands-on activities about business operations and management so students are fully prepared for a day at ‘work.’
“The Commerce Plaza program is a great experience for students to see lessons they’re learning in the classroom translate into the real world. It also inspires students to work diligently to get good grades, and begin to think about secondary training and their future education ,” said Richard Loeschner, Superintendent of Brentwood Union Free School District. “The district has an abundance of resources in place for career literacy to better equip students with the support and skills needed in a professional workplace.”
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Dressed for success, students boarded busses in their finest business professional attire prepared to take on their first day as a professional. Pine Park’s fifth graders had the option to play business roles from a variety of industries within Commerce Plaza including banking, news media, and public service. Students practiced basic economic principles and skills including writing checks and balancing checkbooks, completing job applications and applying for bank loans.
Over the last 20 years, Commerce Plaza has prepared Long Island students for the real-world workforce. In partnership with Capital One Bank, Hofstra University, Sandwire IT Tech Solutions, and United Way of Long Island, Commerce Plaza exposes students to a variety of career simulations and an opportunity that a textbook could never provide.
For more information on the Brentwood Union Free School District, please visit the district’s website at www.brentwood.k12.ny.us.
