The moment you step foot into JA World, Huizenga Center at the Lillian S. Wells Pavilion,
your first word will be, wow. What JA is all about is about making education an experience. We know
that today our children need more than someone speaking to them right in front of a classroom.
They need to feel it, touch it, see it, hear it. And that's what happens at JA World. It's about
connecting education, academics to the real world, right? The one that they're gonna face when they
come out of school. Junior Achievement has several signature programs. Two of those are JA BizTown
and JA Finance Park. We're so fortunate both of those programs are required by Broward County
Public Schools. So every single fifth grader will do the JA BizTown curriculum. So that means 16 to
18 classes within their classroom taught by the teacher who are trained by Junior Achievement.
And then, they will teach those lessons. Those students in fifth grade will learn about savings,
checking accounts, setting that foundation for those students. Second piece is they will come
here, they will have already interviewed for their jobs in the classroom through the curriculum and
they will know what their jobs are. They will run this town. And then, the third piece of
that is running businesses. They have to go to the bank they have to take out a bank loan, and then,
by the end of the day they have to pay it back. So learning about entrepreneurship. So that program
really embeds all three of our core pillars into the curriculum. What happens when you put those
kids in teams running those store fronts, right? All those work skills we talk about, collaboration
public speaking, problem solving, all of those things start to get put into action. And then
eighth grade, which is called the JA Finance Park. every single eighth grader in Broward
County does that program. That program focuses on personal finance as well as career exploration.
The great thing about Junior Achievement is they provide resources and most of all,
a curriculum for teachers to implement the financial literacy piece. And we go through
lessons such as how to do your taxes how to take out your social security, your Medicare,
how to balance your budget, how to start a savings, a checking, why it's important
to have good credit because you're gonna be making important major purchases like a car,
a home. Not everybody is going to go to college. So we look at trade schools or technical schools,
even technical high schools. The growth that I've seen is the end is that they realize
what we're doing here at Junior Achievement is only going to set them up for success in life.
I learned how to budget, I learned how to save money. I learned that it's really easy to go
into debt and I learned how you can start planning your future from a very young age.
Being in this program helped me realize that how hard it is to be an adult and
how hard it is to budget and use money in a accurate way.
I learned the difference between stocks and mutual funding which I've been wondering for
such a really long time. I used to live in New York and they don't do stuff like
this. I'm glad that the students of Florida have this opportunity to this
program where they can learn about budget and financing. 'Cause I never had that.
Today at JA World, I worked at dev.com. we learned how to manage
money and budget. I am looking forward to getting a job and I think I'm ready.
We greatly appreciate your time and you have a huge impact on the students that
are here as well as the teachers. We're gonna go over your volunteer pamphlets as
well as your binders and talk about what will happen once the students arrive.
Our volunteers are critical to JA programs. We could not do this without all of them. In the last
couple of years, on average, we use about 6,000 volunteers to run all of our programs. You know,
we know from research and just from, you know hearing from our students how
important mentors and role models are. And that's really the role of our volunteers.
It's to be in those storefronts with them sharing their experiences around financial
literacy and managing finances as well as their careers with those students.
To volunteer for JA Academy, it's been a very rewarding opportunity. I've done it now three
times. I've been able to go to multiple schools, both virtually and in person. They get to know
things such as, you know, how to deal with money, what money actually is and how everything works
as you grow up. So it's been, it's been quite interesting to see them interacting with you
and seeing them learn and you know, that shine in their eyes when they're doing something that is
fun for them. It's an amazing opportunity not only to give back to the community,
but also to give back to the kids that would eventually become adults. And
just teaching financial literacy which is just so important for everybody to know.
[Laurie] That's what makes JA so unique. It's that combination of the corporate and business
partners and role models that we have through them. The school district, right? Embedding
this into curriculum and into core subjects. And then JA, bringing that real world curriculum.
In the 21st century. Financial literacy is critical. We have to
teach our students. we have to teach our children to be financially responsible.
Many families do not necessarily have those tools. As a teacher,
I can provide that opportunity. If I give them just this little piece, it could open the door so,
so much. And we have to do that. We have a responsibility to do that as teachers.
Investing in our youth is a community effort. This is not just about JA.
JA is here. We want to be a solution, but we can't do it alone. It's going to take the public sector,
the corporate sector, the educational sector, nonprofits. We all have to work
together to make sure that our students are ready for the future. We need them to be.