Why did I decide to volunteer with JA?
For those of you who know me well know I've spent the last decade serving Junior Achievement as a board member for our area. Originally I sought out this non-profit as I saw it as an opportunity to teach our youth about financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneuership.
Every year I have taught multiple classes and have worked behind the scenes to make this program a success. While it's always been rewarding, last year I received a personal thank you letter from a student I didn't expect to get one from. He thanked me for listening to him, letting him share his ideas, and told me the stuff I taught him made sense. I started to think back at his craving for attention, and teaching him how to manage money responsibly. Maybe he didn't understand how a business makes money before this, or perhaps he didn't have enough people believing in him. Our teachers are heroes, let's help them spark a fire in every student, and maybe connecting the classroom to people in the business community will do just that for that one student you wouldn't expect.
When I think back to when I was his age, if I didn't have my parents instilling values of work ethic, responsibility, and a basic understanding of how money works I think I would have been in trouble. We owe it to our youth and our future to give them that attention and prepare their minds for the value they can contribute to our community in the future. We owe it to them to encourage them, believe in them, and give them the tools to get started.
Let's give that one child you would have never expected to even notice you took the time to come into their classroom this attention.
JA reaches 18,500 kids in our area. It's my goal this year to raise enough money to sponsor an entire school. It takes our wonderful volunteers and it also takes our resources to keep this movement strong. Kids need us now more than ever to meet them in their educational journey that's had some unexpected twists and turns.
Let's show them that understanding how our community works and how they can play an important part in our future. $25 dollars sponsors one child this year. Thank you for your consideration.