Richardson ISD's BizTown returns, giving students a mini city to run

Richardson ISD has brought back BizTown, a learning center built as a miniature version of the city of Richardson. The district ran the program years ago, and some of the students who took part have since become parents. They asked the district to restore an experience they still remember from elementary school, and the district did.

Inside the town, students handle grown-up work. They open businesses, plan budgets, hire employees and aim for a profit. The town includes a public water plant and a boutique shop, along with a food company called Bite Size Bistro and a content studio. Job sites mirror employers students already see around town, such as State Farm, Ford, Bridgestone and Toyota. Students who want to sell goods have to market them to the residents of the town.

Melissa Heller, Richardson ISD's assistant superintendent of instruction and engagement, said the program is meant to build critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills, the kind of soft skills local business and industry partners say they value. Teachers and parent volunteers guide the work, but students still have to sort out staffing problems and bank accounts that do not balance, and they have to work with one another and with outside partners.

Students said the experience feels like practice for adulthood. One said the goal is to learn how to live as an adult, so that later in life the work feels familiar. Another student wanted the food company to donate meals to people in need. At the end of the lessons, the businesses use what they earned to buy prizes to take home.

Original reporting by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, written by Wayne Carter for its Carter In The Classroom series.