Published July 2002

Junior Achievement
is making a difference

Another school year is over for students and teachers, but not for Junior Achievement.

Even though official board meetings are on summer hiatus, work continues for President David Moore and his J.A. staff in Seattle and in the minds of board members throughout the Puget Sound region as they prepare for the start of fall classes.

And for good reason — they realize how effective J.A.’s classroom programs have been in ensuring that children throughout America have a fundamental understanding of the free-enterprise system.

J.A. “educates and inspires young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives,” quoting from a new CD-ROM Power Point presentation just produced for J.A. promotion by area board members.

Today — when America’s economy is front-page news because it impacts the future of every family, the future of every student and the future of our country — J.A. is our nation’s most successful program for teaching students the facts and values of that economy, showing them “how” and “why” the world’s greatest economy functions.

Sitting as a member of J.A.’s Snohomish County board last month — as we reviewed the year’s achievements for J.A. and listened to the enthusiasm of Granite Falls Middle School teacher Cindy Foster and four of her students as they talked about their J.A. job-shadow day at Lang Manufacturing — I could easily see why teachers and students find the program fascinating, useful and fun.

Through J.A.’s K-12 classroom programs, taught by volunteers, students learn how to set up checking accounts, get home mortgages and become good employees and good consumers. They learn so much about the value of their education, how classroom learning is applied in the “real” world and how staying in school will affect a lifetime of options and opportunities.

It has been proven repeatedly that the business-education partnerships that make J.A. possible have created positive attitudes in students about learning, working and contributing to society, as well as nourishing critical-thinking skills related to success in life, the workplace and our communities.

Last year in the Puget Sound area, more than 5,000 volunteers from the business community presented J.A. programs to nearly 100,000 students in the classrooms of 2,300 teachers in 90 school districts — and those numbers continue to grow each year.

In 1998-99 there were 70,000 students who experienced J.A. programs, a number expected to grow to 140,000 by 2005 — including 20,000 in Snohomish County that year.

Topics for the elementary programs include personal economics, enterprise in action, the international marketplace, the economics of staying in school and exploring math in business, a foundation for later J.A. high school programs on economics, running a J.A. company, skills for success and personal finance, among others.

Recently, one student summed up J.A. programs succinctly: “We learned that the choices we make now affect how we’re going to live later. You have to plan ahead in life.”

The local and national J.A. programs have felt the ripple effects of the economic contractions generated by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America’s economy and values, temporarily slowing corporate contributions needed to maintain and grow J.A.

But that additional challenge has only increased J.A. supporters’ efforts to educate corporate supporters — and today’s students, who will be tomorrow’s employers and employees — about the American economy.

In fact, plans are moving ahead to create the first Junior Achievement Enterprise Village & Finance Park in the Northwest, similar to the one that has drawn rave reviews in Florida. Working in “real” offices and retail stores, students buy and sell products and services, manage companies and learn valuable economic lessons firsthand. One part of the “village” would include a new headquarters for the J.A. program, now located in downtown Seattle.

Currently, J.A. leaders are searching for a low-cost or donated site between south Lake Union and Lynnwood, raising the possibility that Snohomish County could become an even more important focal point for J.A. in this region.

This successful education program relies on volunteers and financial supporters from the business community. More information is available on the Internet at www.jaseattle.org or by contacting J.A.’s Regional Manager, Jared Johnson, at 206-808-5868 or jared@jaseattle.org.

Herald Business Journal Editor John Wolcott is a member of Junior Achievement’s Snohomish County board of directors.

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