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

Junior Achievement program helps boys make positive choices

JA Boy$ participants play “Be a Success” board game at DuPont Middle School summer camp. Photo: Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com

JA Boy$ volunteers teach decision making and personal finance, but they are so much more – JA Boy$ volunteers act as classroom mentors to the groups of boys they teach.

Recently, a JA Boy$ session was held at DuPont Middle School’s Team UP summer camp, hosted by The Bridge of Northeast Florida.

A group of boys played Junior Achievement‘s “Be a Success Board Game” that interactively teaches the ups and downs of making decisions about life.

Read more from The Florida Times Union…

JA Boy$ serves as a bridge between JA’s real-world programs and all-male classroom environment. For more info on this program and how to get involved, click here.

The Junior Achievement Grand Prix benefits JA Boy$ and takes place July 28 at Autobahn Indoor Speedway. Racers must raise a minimum $250 via peer-to-peer fundraising to secure their karts in the race. JA Grand Prix information and registration.

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Original link to story: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-07-18/story/junior-achievement-program-helps-boys-make-positive-choices-follow

‘Day of the Girl’ presented by Junior Achievement and JaxPAL

Junior Achievement and Police Athletic League of Jacksonville, Inc. present inaugural ‘Day of the Girl’ for girls ages 10-18

A day ALL about girls!

Day of the Girl is a subprogram under Junior Achievement‘s JA Girl$ initiative.

JA Girl$ and partner organizations, companies, and local entrepreneurs will facilitate workshops on topics of concern for 300 girls in Jacksonville, primarily in upper elementary school, middle and high school grades.

There will be lessons and workshops focusing on budgeting & saving, healthy eating, personal & school safety, entrepreneurship, self-esteem & image, leadership and more.

The day is open to girls ages 10 – 18 years old.

Registration is full! But volunteers are needed for the Reverse Job Shadow component. More info and sign up to participate in Reverse Job Shadow is here.

When:
July 21, 2016
8:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Where:
Police Athletic League of Jacksonville, Inc. (JaxPAL)
3450 Monument Road
Jacksonville, FL 32225

Contact
Sabrina Kinslow
JA Girl$ Program Manager
904-398-9944 ext. 225; sabrina@JAjax.com

Day of the Girl provides girls with a holistic, girl-centered approach to the Junior Achievement concepts of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career readiness.

Each workshop will encourage and inspire girls to make decisions now, to help ensure a brighter future. The day will also feature a career fair and will provide a healthy morning snack and lunch.

Day of the Girl shares the vision and mission already in place for JA Girl$:

Vision
To inspire girls and young women to open their minds to new opportunities, understand the power of their choices, and reach high to achieve their full economic potential.

Mission
To prepare girls and young women for economic success by providing hands-on experiences and educational opportunities that honor, value and celebrate the female perspective, experiences and unique development.

Learn more about JA Girl$.

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Kind and selfless act by high school students in JA Company Program

Teens in the JA Company Program® at Sandalwood High School donated their total profit of $250 to Clara White Mission.

Sandalwood High School JA Company, “The Plug,” with a check made out to Clara White Mission in the amount of $250.

Above photo shows the check in the hands of JA Company, “The Plug,” and below is Tiffany Mackey of Junior Achievement and Sandalwood’s Mrs. Jones presenting the check to Clara White Mission CEO/President, Ju’Coby Pittman.

Clara White Mission CEO/President, Ju’Coby Pittman (center) receives a $250 check for the organization from Sandalwood High School JA Company.

JA Company Program® is a blended learning approach that offers groups of students the opportunity to understand the steps involved in launching their own businesses while learning the basics of entrepreneurship, financial litearacy and business success. Learn more about JA Company Program in Jacksonville.

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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.

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Celebrate #GivingTuesday with Junior Achievement

Happy Giving Tuesday!

Junior Achievement helps young people learn how to create successful futures. With the help of our dedicated volunteers, we teach students how to succeed through hands-on learning in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness.

Any donation-no matter how big or how small-will help us bring more real-world experiences to students in our North Florida region!

Click here to make your donation.

Thank you for helping Junior Achievement Empower the Future®

Learn more about Junior Achievement of North Florida at www.JAjax.com.

Stay up to date with all things Junior Achievement

Read April’s edition of our monthly newsletter here.

To get JA news delivered right to your inbox, please click here to become a subscriber.

Proud to receive Bank of America’s highest philanthropic honor

On February 25, 2015 Bank of America held a reception at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville to recognize JA of North Florida as the 2014 Neighborhood Builders Award recipient.

The announcement came in December 2014 that JA of North Florida was the chosen recipient for $200,000 in unrestricted funds for Bank of America’s 2014 Neighborhood Builders® Award.

Last night Bank of America held a reception at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville to formally recognize JA of North Florida as the recipient.

The $200,000 in funds will be used to establish a financial literacy center in New Town, a low-income neighborhood on Jacksonville’s Northside with high crime and unemployment rates.

The Mitchell Community Center will be the site of the Bank of America/Junior Achievement Financial Literacy Center.

The Mitchell Community Center, site of future Bank of America/Junior Achievement Financial Literacy Center.

Up until now, the Mitchell Community Center has remained an under-utilized multi-purpose building in New Town.

Junior Achievement saw this site as the perfect opportunity.

“Bank of America’s award will help JA better serve the Jacksonville community through programs that seek to encourage young people to become financially successful,” said JA of North Florida President, Steve St. Amand.

With the funding from Bank of America and partnerships with the City of Jacksonville, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Duval County Public Schools and Edward Waters College, the New Town Financial Literacy Center will become a reality.

Pilot classes are set to begin next school year.

JA will seek to reach 2,500 students per year, teaching them the fundamentals of banking, business and taxes as well as financial literacy skills.

Our first-ever Financial Literacy Center will expose Jacksonville students to a world of possibilities

JA will transform the Mitchell Community Center located in New Town, a low-income neighborhood on Jacksonville’s Northside, into a hands-on financial literacy center.

Below is a letter to the editor of the Florida Times Union by JA of North Florida President, Steve St. Amand. The letter was published on February 20, 2015.

If you’re born into a world of limitations because of poverty or financial illiteracy, then what are your chances for a future of greater possibilities?

Junior Achievement of North Florida knows the answer, and it’s among the reasons we decided to open our first dedicated financial education center.

Furthermore, we will create this financial literacy center in one of Jacksonville’s most economically depressed neighborhoods as part of the New Town Success Zone.

Our move into New Town begins with the renovation of the Mitchell Community Center, a project the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation will oversee. The renovated facility will be home to the Bank of America/JA Financial Literacy Center.

The name recognizes Bank of America’s support for the financial literacy center: a $200,000 grant that Junior Achievement recently received as the bank’s 2014 Neighborhood Builders Award recipient. We committed the grant to the New Town center.

Scheduled to be fully operational by 2016, the financial education center will expose an estimated 2,500 second-graders and third-graders a year from throughout Jacksonville to topics such as zoning, taxes, banking and personal money management.

Students from all Duval County elementary schools will have the opportunity to view New Town and learn about life from the New Town perspective. Program participants also will “open” their own restaurant, a virtual experience in running a business, as well as learning how money flows through the economy.

We hope to keep them in Junior Achievement as their education progresses and provide financial literacy, workforce preparation and entrepreneurship programs to older students in the future.

We look forward to the day the Bank of America/JA Financial Literacy Center opens in New Town.

While it will mark a new and exciting initiative for Junior Achievement of North Florida, the center more importantly will open young minds to a world that’s filled with possibilities.

Steve St. Amand, president,

Junior Achievement of North Florida

Bank of America donates $200,000 to Junior Achievement to establish financial literacy center on Jacksonville’s Northside

From left, Greg Smith, president of the Northeast Florida region for Bank of America, JA North Florida President Steve St. Amand, and JA Board Chair Charlie Kauffman at the award ceremony on Dec. 17.

Bank of America Charitable Foundation and a local market selection committee have named Junior Achievement of North Florida as the 2014 Neighborhood Builders® Award recipient.

JA of North Florida plans to use the Neighborhood Builders Award’s $200,000 unrestricted grant to fund a new initiative that targets second- and third-grade students living in New Town, a low-income neighborhood on Jacksonville’s Northside.

JA of North Florida will transform the Mitchell Community Center into the New Town Financial Literacy Center, allowing students to participate in the JA Our City program — an interactive, hands-on program that teaches students about skills people need to work in specific careers, city planning, and how business contributes to the life of the city.

“Junior Achievement of North Florida has done so much to help raise the awareness of financial literacy among schoolchildren in the Jacksonville area,” said Gregory B. Smith, Northeast Florida market president, Bank of America. “Our local market selection committee, made of members of the community, recognized the impact JA has on young lives and determined that the organization deserved to receive Bank of America’s highest philanthropic honor. The Neighborhood Builders Award will help empower JA to build leadership capacity and expand to meet the evolving needs in our community.”

Scheduled to open in 2015, the New Town Financial Literacy Center at Mitchell Community Center will seek to reach 2,500 students per year, teaching them the fundamentals of banking, business and taxes as well as financial literacy skills.

The center will start out teaching second- and third-grade students from the neighborhood and across Duval county, then expand to teach middle and high school students as the center becomes established.

“We are thrilled to receive Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders Award and be recognized as a high-performing nonprofit,” said Steve St. Amand, CEO of Junior Achievement of North Florida. “The award’s $200,000 grant and leadership training will help JA better serve the greater Jacksonville community through programs that seek to encourage young people to become financially successful.”

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown said: “Junior Achievement’s planned Financial Literacy Center will go a long way toward making Mitchell Community Center an even more valuable asset to the community, as well as educating and inspiring young people in New Town to pursue a brighter future. On behalf of the City of Jacksonville, I thank Bank of America for their generous support of these efforts.”

View photos from the award reception