School is out and summer break is in full swing. Often the end of each school year is full of fun activities. One of those events allowed Jessica from Excelsior Homes to volunteer at Junior Achievement BizTown in Maplewood, MN. 

BizTown Construction Center

Jessica’s daughter’s class was preparing to attend BizTown, and they needed adult volunteers to lead the BizTown shops. They offer a Construction Center shop, which was a nice fit with home building and Excelsior Homes. Jessica offered her time and spent a day with her daughter’s class supporting their learning and teaching the ins and outs of the construction industry. 

Prior to going to BizTown I had heard that this was not your typical field trip volunteer experience and to be prepared to work.  Indeed I found that it was a jam packed day full of real life experiences for these kids.  Biztown is a fantastic real life experience for the kids.  It would be awesome if they could do something similar to this several times a year! – Jessica Verhasselt, Parent Volunteer Construction Company

Learn about BizTown

BizTown provides children an opportunity to learn hands-on in a simulated work environment. There are 15 different shops where kids learn how run a business and gain life skills. The kids spend time in school learning about some of these aspects before the day at the simulation facility. 

My favorite part of Biztown was the food (popcorn) and working there all day.  The most challenging part of my job was the speeches and talking in front of everyone. – Lily Docken, Mayor of BizTown

Lily’s Mom, Ashley, owns the local Frozen Yogurt shop, Below Zero. Ashley was another parent volunteer, and also had great things to share about the experience. 

I was impressed with BizTown, a well-organized, real world experience for our kids. Staff was energetic and helpful. -Ashley Docken, Parent Volunteer

Jessica was able to coach small group of kids including her daughter at the end of May when they attended the session. She was able to share her knowledge and experiences, while the kids learned about construction. 

My favorite part of BizTown was working a real job on a computer.  (She was in charge of payroll, making deposits, accounts payable, etc). 

The most challenging part of my day was doing all the paperwork and getting it done on time.  – Zoe Verhasselt, CFO Construction Company

While we love helping our customers, it is fun to get out of the office and experience a learning hands-on like this with children. 

Check our blog to see other interesting things we do at Excelsior Homes!

2017 Park Rec Sponsored Soccer Team

Supporting families and children is important to Excelsior Homes. Being a family owned organization keeps the importance of supporting families and children a focus in the lives of the owners. One way they do this is by being sponsors of local community kid’s activities.

Children’s Activity Sponsorships

Having children of their own means that Beau, Jessica and Jason have been involved in many different youth activities. Their children are involved and help them build connections to different opportunities. It also allows them to see the value in being part of team and building confidence.

2017 Park Rec Sponsored Basketball Team

Excelsior Homes sponsors youth activities:

• Parks & Rec Teams – Sponsor various youth sport teams, such as soccer, t-ball, and basketball.
• Hutchinson Youth Basketball Association – Gold sponsor supports youth skill development on and off the basketball court.
• Hutchinson Tigers Bass Fishing Club – Supporting a new youth club.

Supporting local children guides the kids to learn and build their skills. Our local community is important and thriving – we want to keep it moving in the right direction. 

Learn more about the Excelsior Homes family.