JA of North Florida’s December Newsletter is Out!

JA of North Florida’s latest newsletter, the December Edition, landed in inboxes today.

Inside you’ll find:

• A Bank of America grant that will benefit middle school students in Duval County
• The JA Hall of Fame in March 2017
• What’s happening at the JA Financial Literacy Center in New Town
• The difference that employees from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and PwC are making in the lives of youth through “JA in a Day”
• The 2017 JA North Florida Golf Classic
• Volunteer opportunities in North Florida
• How you can help Junior Achievement inspire young people!

See the entire newsletter here!

 

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EverBank partners with Junior Achievement to teach financial litearcy

Thanks to partners like EverBank, we’re able to bring financial literacy lessons to thousands of students in Duval County Public Schools each year! EverBank created this great video showing our partnership.

The following originally appeared on EverBank’s website:

“For reasons that should be pretty clear to all, we place great importance on the value of sound money management skills and training as well as financial discipline. To help support a stronger financial future for individuals throughout our communities, we proudly assume responsibility for sharing our financial expertise and knowledge in a variety of unique and exciting ways. Junior Achievement shares in our passion for financial literacy. And together, we’re helping to make a difference one person at a time.” -EverBank

Introducing the Junior Achievement Financial Literacy Center

The JA Financial Literacy Center sponsored by Bank of America and the Economics of Healthy Eating program sponsored by the Jim Moran Foundation was officially launched on Friday, April 8. The JA Financial Literacy Center will provide day-long programs to third grade students. Housed in the Mitchell Community Center, the JA Financial Literacy Center was introduced by Martha Barrett of Bank of America, Councilman Garrett Dennis, and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

Superintendent Vitti has placed the JA Financial Literacy Center into the rotation of enrichment programs for students attending Title I schools. ALL third grade students in Title I schools in Duval County will visit The JA Financial Literacy Center. Approximately 10,000 students annually will spend the day at the JA Financial Literacy Center and receive the JA Our City program, The Economics of Healthy Eating program and a shopping visit to the Jacksonville Farmers Market.

The JA Financial Literacy Center is the first of its type in the country. The Economics of Healthy Eating was developed by the Brooks College of Health at UNF and is also the first healthy eating program with an economic basis being offered in the country.

JA received Bank of America’s 2014 Neighborhood Builders Award in the amount of $200,000 to fund the New Town initiative and also received $146,000 from The Jim Moran Foundation to create and implement the new Economics of Healthy Eating initiative as well as support the Center’s programming.

View more photos from the JA Financial Literacy program launch by clicking here.

Stay connected: Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // Google+ // Website

2014-15 school year results are in: JA of North Florida’s best year yet!

We reached 52,881 students during the 2014-15 school year with our financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship programs.

In other words, 42% of students in Duval County Public Schools participated in a Junior Achievement program last school year.

We are excited to share some highlights from JA USA’s end-of-year results. These results demonstrate the impact our organization, volunteers and donors are making on the lives of young people in North Florida.

For the first time in its 52-year history, JA of North Florida is in the top 25 of the 115 JA Areas in the United States, and is now the second largest JA Area in the state of Florida, second only to JA of Tampa Bay!

Last school year, the amount of time volunteers spent with students teaching JA increased.

JA of North Florida volunteers spent more hours per student than the national average.

We are proud to announce JA of North Florida is 23rd out of 115 JA Areas in the nation in market share, and #1 of the nine JA Areas in Florida!

These numbers reflect the strength of this community of JA supporters. Give yourself a hand!

Thank you for giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices.

We look forward to continue sharing the impact and successes of the program and students involved during the 2015-16 school year.

To volunteer with us or to learn more, visit JAjax.com.

New school year, new ways to become involved with JA

Hard to believe it is September!
We were busy all summer long bringing our financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs to summer camps throughout Jacksonville.

We held our first-ever crowdfunding campaign for the summer programs, raising just shy of $2,000. A HUGE thank you to all who donated!

Now that the new school year has started, we are busy recruiting, training volunteers and scheduling with teachers to bring JA programs into their classrooms.

In addition, new partnerships will bring exciting new initiatives to students in Duval County. Stay tuned for more on these experiential learning opportunities.

Many new volunteer opportunities are posted on our website at www.JAjax.com. There are so many ways to get involved with JA this school year!

During school, after school, morning, afternoon, evening, gender-specific, elementary, middle, and high school, personal finance-related, entrepreneurship-related, Reverse Job Shadows and more…Click here to visit our website and find one that’s right for you!

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about volunteering, our programs or bringing JA to your classroom.

It’s going to be a great year!

– Program Staff of Junior Achievement of North Florida
Tiffany Mackey, VP of Programs (tiffany@jajax.com)
Rita Story, Program Director – Southside & Mandarin (rita@jajax.com)
Teresa Smith, Director of Special Initiatives (teresa@jajax.com)
Sabrina Kinslow, JA Girl$ Program Manager (sabrina@jajax.com)
Jonathan Bishop, JA Boy$ Program Manager (jonathan@jajax.com)
Melissa Daniel, Program Director – Northside & Westside (melissa@jajax.com)

UNF Women In Business Society teach Junior Achievement lessons to Pre-K Students

Members of University of North Florida’s Women In Business Society volunteered and taught Junior Achievement curriculum to kids at the UNF Child Development Research Center on April 17.

Six WBS members taught JA Ourselves to Pre-K students for a mini “JA in a Day,” teaching two out of the five lessons from the program.

The WBS volunteers taught Session One, “Robbie’s Trip to the Farm” and Session Three, “Charlie Plants a Garden.”  Students were introduced to a storybook character and his visit to a family farm, and through a group discussion and by drawing pictures of their favorite animals, discovered that individuals make choices. In “Charlie Plants a Garden” the students learned how the storybook characters work together to plant a community garden, then followed up the activity with a visit to a real garden on-site at UNF.

WBS volunteers reading “Robbie’s Trip to the Farm” during Session One of JA Ourselves, which teaches concepts of work, earning, reward, voluntary exchange and choices.

Students drew their favorite animals after reading about the farm animals in “Robbie’s Trip to the Farm.”

Junior Achievement’s hands-on activities encourage discussion between the students and volunteers while reinforcing lesson concepts.

The Women In Business Society is a student organization based in the UNF Coggin College of Business that is dedicated to supporting women in their efforts to pursue higher levels of educational and professional achievement.

In addition to lending their time teaching Junior Achievement in the classroom, WBS members help out every year with set-up and running the check-in table at our annual Smart Women Make Change event. We value their partnership and from everyone at JA, “Thank you, Women in Business Society!”

To learn more about volunteer opportunities with Junior Achievement, please visit jajax.com.

Gearing up for summer camp

Today is the Jacksonville Children’s Commission Summer Camp Vendor Fair, where our program staff are busy recruiting. If you are a summer camp provider and would like to host Junior Achievement programs, please contact us at 904-398-9944 and we would love to discuss partnering with you!

Teresa Smith, Director of Special Initiatives, and Tiffany Mackey, VP of Programs, are having fun at the JCC Summer Camp Vendor Fair.

VP of Programs Tiffany Mackey discussing Junior Achievement’s K-12 programs for summer camp.

JA Students visit Microsoft Store in Jacksonville

Sandalwood High School students visited the Microsoft Store at St. Johns Town Center as part of JA Job Shadow.

They interacted with store employees, got a tour of the store and learned about Microsoft as a corporation.

Students received job advice that applies no matter what career field they choose, such as the importance of communication and team work.

Check out their experience!

Southside Middle teens learned important workforce skills at AT&T’s Aspire Mentoring Academy

Junior Achievement of North Florida collaborated with AT&T to provide mentoring to students at-risk of dropping out of school.

    

On March 5, twenty-six Southside Middle School students participated in JA Job Shadow with AT&T employees as part of Aspire Mentoring Academy. The event took place at the company’s Southside location in Jacksonville.

The students interacted with employees from different areas of the company ranging from regional managers to engineering and construction.

   

“We work with AMA [Aspire Mentoring Academy] to help young people like you see the many types of jobs out there and the opportunities available to you,” said Chris Jamke, a regional manager who explained that he has worked his way up in the company during the past 15 years.

The AT&T employees offered advice such as “you create your own destiny,” and stressed the importance of getting a degree, making the right choices and surrounding yourself with the right people.

They encouraged the students to learn as much as they can in school and work toward their dreams.

   

Providing young people with real-world learning experiences can be key to improving U.S. high school graduation rates. Currently, 1 in 5 students do not graduate with their class on time. One in three young people overall (34 percent) and even more at-risk youth (37 percent) report they never had an adult mentor of any kind (naturally occurring or structured) while they were growing up. (Source: See below)

Through this partnership with AT&T, Junior Achievement is targeting Title I schools, or schools with graduation rates of 70 percent or lower, focusing on at-risk populations.

“This group of students are free/reduced lunch and have poor attendance issues,” said Southside Middle School counselor, Tiera Thomas.

“I truly enjoyed taking the kids out of their element and exposing them to something new. They have received information on career opportunities offered at AT&T. They have heard that goals must be set, education must be taken serious, and always dream BIG.”

Source: “The Mentoring Effect” http://www.mentoring.org/mentoringeffect/fact_sheet/

Volunteers have successful first-time JA teaching experience

From left to right: First-time volunteers Anthony Periozzo, Matthew Sheroff, Justin Tarro and David Kleer, all of Vistakon, taught Junior Achievement lessons at Greenfield Elementary on Friday, January 30.

“Once they got settled in, they all did really well teaching their classes,” said Rita Story, JA Program Director.

We are always in need of volunteers! Click here to see our current opportunities.