My involvement in Junior Achievement started 12 years ago when I was asked to teach my sons 3rd grade class. It has been one of my most rewarding and impactful volunteer opportunities of my career. Listening to kids talk about how money works, the difference between wants and needs, skills needed to be successful in today's workforce, how businesses impact their communities and so much more is why Junior Achievement offers kids the opportunity to visualize and see the boundless possibilities that are out there. Junior Achievment focuses on three core pillars for success: career readiness, financial education and entrepreneurship.
Watching kids and hearing them talk about what they learned motivates me and provides me with confidence in our young people being successful in the future related to financial matters. To continue providing these opportunities to all, this year I accepted a position on the State of Wisconsin Junior Achievement Executive Board to get the message out on all Junior Achievement has to offer both for students and communities.
In each class there are 5 lessons, that explore finance in a variety of ways. We spend time exploring all things finance in a way that's designed for each specific grade level from the curious minds of young learners to the growing minds of middle and high schoolers. Students don't just receive a presentation but are provided with interactive games, engaging activities, and some creative challenges along the way. The goal is to take a topic that is often not discussed and taboo and make it relevant and easy to understand.
At Junior Achievement, we believe in “possible.” Each day, we work to help young people discover what’s possible in their lives. We do this by helping them connect what they learn in school with life outside the classroom. We let them know it’s possible to invest in their future, to gain a better understanding of how the world works, and to pursue their dreams. We show them that it’s possible for tomorrow to be a better day.
I am one of hundreds of volunteers that step into the classroom and teach Junior Achievement. As a board member I believe you need to be involved and a part of the mission to understand the impact JA has on our youth. One of our 1st time JA volunteers shared his experience last school year.
"I admit, when I went into teaching my first Junior Achievement session of Personal Finance, it made me a little nervous. But, that immediately changed when I realized how comfortable I was with the students and the material. It was pretty amazing to see how interested the students were in the material!
I wanted to share my most memorable and rewarding experience which was when I was working with one student in particular who was very shy. In fact, the first day of class she did NOT want to speak at all. I worked closely with her to help her get more involved and within the first two classes she started to answer questions and enjoy the class with the rest of the students. By the end of the course she was the MOST involved and answered the MOST questions and I was very proud of her."
JA is set to reach over 5,000 students this year in the Coulee Region and surrounding areas! What if you truly help change their future? What if you start today?
