First look at Junior Achievement center coming to Columbia County

EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re getting a first look at plans for the new Junior Achievement Discovery Center coming to Columbia County in 2023.

The building will be used to teach middle school students in both Columbia and Richmond counties about financial literacy.

It’s right off Riverwatch Parkway in a facility where the groundbreaking is set to take place in the next couple of weeks, which is adding to the anticipation of how this will impact schools in our area.

“I was excited because I just remember what Junior Achievement did for me. I just remember how it expanded my mind,” said Shawnda Stovall, who represented District 1 on the Richmond County Board of Education.

Growing up, she had Junior Achievement programs in her classroom. The stuff she learned still is locked in her brain.

“It was one of those things where you see it, you hear it but you don’t really think about it until later. I balanced my first check. And then I remembered those teachings because as a kid I don’t have a check. I didn’t have checks, but I bounced my first check. It brought me back to the process of it,” she said.

The Junior Achievement Center coming to Richmond and Columbia County recently released the designs for the inside of the building. Michael Foster says this will change the way economics will be taught from when he was a teacher.

“The way they’re built. It’s pretty exciting when you go in there, and they have the businesses, and it’s all laid out for kids to see what it’s like in the real world, and they get to experience some of that themselves,” he said.

Both counties see this as an opportunity to build up their school system.

Columbia County Superintendent Dr. Steven Flynt said, “I think everything we look at is student achievement driven.”

Stovall added, “I’m excited that this will help bring up our math, our reading, our sciences to where our students can be competitive by the time they graduate from our school system.”

Flynt tells us the goal is to have this facility up and running by October 2023. He says once they feel comfortable, they’ll start welcoming students from neighboring counties.

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