JA High School Programs

Through hands-on classroom activities and local, regional, and national competitions, JA Banks in Action teaches high school students the principles of the banking industry, and introduces them to the challenges of successfully operating a bank in a competitive environment. JA Banks in Action not only educates young people around the world about the banking industry, but also encourages them to become better citizens and smarter consumers.

SESSION	KEY LEANING OBJECTIVES
Session One: The Building Blocks of Banking Students are introduced to the basics of banking, including exploring the history of the industry, its primary operations and procedures, and its products and services.	Important milestones in banking history. How banks earn a profit. Banking products and services.
Session Two: The Spread Students are introduced to short-term deposit and loan products. They play a game that illustrates how a bank’s income is affected by spread (the difference between the interest rate a bank charges borrowers and the rate it pays depositors).	Features of short-term deposit and short-term loan products. Reasons why short-term deposit interest rates typically are low. Reasons why short-term loan interest rates typically are high. The concept of spread.
Session Three: Decide on Short-Term Products Students review the key terms introduced during the previous sessions. They also are introduced to the JA Banks in Action computer simulation and compete in the game by adjusting short-term deposit and loan rates to become the team with the greatest assets.	Key banking terms introduced during the first two sessions. The features of the computer banking simulation. The effect of setting short-term deposit and short-term loan interest rates using the computer banking simulation.
Session Four: Long-Term Opportunity Students learn about long-term deposit and loan products. They work in teams to determine the best banking products for a variety of scenarios. Students also consider capacity, character, and collateral when deciding whether or not to approve or deny loan applications.	Features of long-term deposit and long-term loan products. Reasons why long-term deposit interest rates typically are high. Reasons why long-term loan interest rates typically are low.
Session Five: Decide on Long-Term Products: Students complete a flow chart that demonstrates balancing assets and liabilities. They also make long-term deposit and loan interest-rate decisions using the JA Banks in Action computer simulation.	The importance of balancing assets and liabilities. The effect of setting long-term deposit and long-term loan interest rates using the computer banking simulation.
Session Six: Spend Money to Make Money: By analyzing a variety of banking research and development options, bank teams identify which investment option is best. Teams then create a list of benefits that can be used to market their investment. They also make research and development, and marketing decisions using the JA Banks in Action computer simulation.	The costs and benefits of a variety of research and development options. The importance of marketing for the promotion of banking products and services. The effect of investing in research and development, and marketing on a bank’s profits using the computer banking simulation.
Session Seven: Behind the Scenes: Students learn about career opportunities in the banking industry. They analyze a variety of banking job descriptions and identify which rely primarily on skills in working with people, data, things, or ideas. In teams, they identify ways in which they can invest in their own human capital.	The variety of banking careers that are available to them. How an investment in human capital leads to improved job skills and potential earnings.
Session Eight: The Competition-Bank of Choice: Students review the banking concepts explored in previous sessions. Using this knowledge, they compete in a classroom competition to become the banking team with the most assets – the Bank of Choice.	Identify how key banking decisions affect a banks performance. Compete in a computer simulation that draws on their knowledge of banking decisions made in previous lessons.