Kid City
Starline student and store owner Marisa is ready to sell you a pencil with a fuzzy head in place of an eraser.
The Kid City event happens every year. This story was written about the one on May 8, 2009.
Staff and students in the accelerated learning program at Starline Elementary held the grand opening of Kid City, an annual, real world simulation project that is educational, challenging, and way fun.
Kid City is a small town simulation where students take over adult rolls, serving as bankers, police officers, firemen, merchants, etc. The merchants design products they will sell, and they are challenged to come up with things people will want to buy with the special Kid City currency (featuring funny photographs of school principal Ken Danley) that is given to visitors. All visitors get $50 worth of the funny money, and they decide what to spend it on.
Before the doors of Kid City were officially opened, there was a short orientation held in the school gym. Superintendent Malay recounted how two of her three daughters had participated in the program when they were in grade school and remembered it fondly. Principal Danley warned visitors that Kid City has its own laws, and that he had already been arrested by the police on a charge of "being too tall." He warned superintendent Malay that she might have trouble with Kid City police for the opposite reason. (Principal Danley is about 7 foot 3 while superintendent Malay is about 3 foot 7.)
Various local luminaries like police chief Dan Doyle, fire chief Dennis Mueller, and humane society director Victoria Cowper were on hand to share their experience with their Kid City counterparts and maybe pick up some tips. Lake Havasu City Mayor Mark Nexson presented the kid city mayor with a proclamation declaring the day officially Kid City Day, and the Kid City mayor gave mayor Nexson a ceremonial key to Kid City. Soon, parents and other visitors were walking the streets of Kid City and browsing the storefronts. Sales were brisk, crowds were orderly, and no arrests were being made.
Kid City is a fun activity, but it is designed to introduce students to real world situations and decision making from laying out city streets to making change for customers. Starline's accelerated learning program teachers Michelle Youso and Nancy Stoops make sure students gain the maximum educational benefit from the program.