JA Job Shadow gives Jacksonville students a glimpse of the “real world”

JA Job Shadow offers students a unique opportunity: a visit to a professional work environment and insights into how to find and keep a fulfilling career.

Recently our JA Boy$ program partnered with Jacksonville schools serving boys and young men to provide a JA Job Shadow experience for their students.

Students from Valor Academy visited the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – Jacksonville Branch and Sally Corporation

Students from Young Men’s Leadership Academy visited Florida State College at Jacksonville Advanced Technology Center

Students from Young Men’s Leadership Academy visited Florida Blue

7th graders from the Young Men’s Leadership Academy visited three departments at Florida Blue – Workforce Management, IT Command Center, and the Special Investigation Unit.  The students enjoyed touring the beautiful campus and even had lunch at the Four Seasons Café on-site.  Special thanks to Market President Darnell Smith, Board Member Bob Wall, Paul Stallings and Deborah Phelps of ENAABLE (Empowering Network of African-Americas Building, Leading, Embracing).

 

About JA Boy$

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.

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5th graders think about future career paths with JA Our Nation®

Junior Achievement programs teach work readiness and behavioral skills such as what is required to land a job.

One of those programs, JA Our Nation, is redeveloped for the new school year.

Through hands-on classroom activities, the program provides upper-elementary students with practical information about the nation’s free market system and how it serves as an economic engine for businesses and careers.

The curriculum also introduces the need for entrepreneurial and innovative thinking to meet the requirements of high-growth, high-demand careers and the concept of globalization in business.

For example, in Session Three: Career Clusters, students examine career groups and the skills needed for a variety of careers when they participate in a Career Hunt. By answering questions on Career Cluster Trading Cards they discover which jobs require special degrees or training and the average salaries of certain careers.

Students also review a sample resume and identify important work-readiness soft skills necessary for career success.

In the Get and Keep the Job! Board game, they collect the soft skills employers are looking for.

JA Our Nation is a series of five required sessions and one optional supplemental session recommended for students in fifth grade. Each session is 45 minutes in length. Like all JA programs, JA Our Nation is correlated to State and Common Core Standards.

To request this program for your class, click here.

To learn more about Junior Achievement programs in Jacksonville, click here.

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JA Boy$ Reverse Job Shadow at Young Men’s Leadership Academy

Groups of boys at Young Men’s Leadership Academy spoke with business men from the community and learned about potential career paths.

Young men spoke with businessmen and gained insights on potential career paths during JA Boy$ Reverse Job Shadow.

Thank you to the following members of our community for participating at Young Men’s Leadership Academy on June 1!

Thanks for helping Junior Achievement empower the future.

– Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville

– Felix Service Center, LLC

– Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

– Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc.

View photo album on our Facebook page.

Junior Achievement’s Reverse Job Shadow events provide local businesses with a chance to give back to the community and invest in possible future employees, and students become more work-ready by learning about the career opportunities available to them in the Jacksonville area and beyond.

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The Allstate Foundation grants Junior Achievement $15,000 for youth workforce development

Junior Achievement of North Florida received a grant from The Allstate Foundation for the JA Work$ program which empowers youth to enter the workforce.

Two hundred students from Andrew Jackson and Ribault High Schools participated in the JA Personal Finance and JA Career Success programs as part of JA Work$. They learned about crucial workplace skills employers seek and the tools to find a job including resumes, cover letters, and interviewing techniques. They also set their own personal financial plan and goals!

Forty students were selected from that group to undergo training for their “job,” teaching a Junior Achievement program to kindergarten and 1st grade classes at Andrew Robinson and Sallye B. Mathis Elementary Schools.

They worked on their presentation and public speaking skills and entered the classrooms on June 2 to put their skills to the test. Not only did the students teach the elementary students about basic economic concepts covered in the Junior Achievement program, but they served as positive role models and represented a high school that the elementary students will one day be enrolled.

The kindergarten and first graders loved having them in their classroom – smiles all around – what a great way to end the school year! Special thanks to The Allstate Foundation for making this program possible.

View more photos from JA Work$

Stay connected with Junior Achievement of North Florida: 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)

Volunteer Company Profile: BBVA Compass

We Are JA is a series of profiles highlighting the people who make up Junior Achievement – volunteers, students, educators, donors, alumni and more. Celebrating the moments, successes and experiences of our constituents, this series recognizes those who are part of Junior Achievement’s impact in the North Florida region.

BBVA Compass, Volunteer Company

Volunteer Coordinator Jennifer Wagner reflects on their first year volunteering with Junior Achievement.

JA: This was BBVA Compass’ first year volunteering. What has the feedback been like from your team?
Jenny Wagner: The feedback from the BBVA Compass Volunteer Chapter in Jacksonville has been amazing. Our team of employee volunteers had never executed financial education events of this scale and magnitude.

From start to finish, the Junior Achievement team made the training process simple and seamless for our employees – giving them the confidence to deliver the new financial literacy program to students in our communities.

A majority of our volunteers said it exceeded their expectations and in fact, many of our employees have expressed interest in teaching JA again!

What does your team enjoy most about volunteering with Junior Achievement?
Time and time again, our volunteers express how much they love being able to lend their financial expertise to the communities where we live and work.

The joy on the children’s faces and the personal satisfaction of knowing we helped make a difference in their lives is priceless. I’m proud of our team’s work and truly believe that our BBVA Compass volunteers have the biggest hearts in Northeast Florida!

BBVA Compass brought JA in a Day to 98 classes across four schools this year. What is your favorite memory from that time?
Our volunteers had the opportunity to interact and learn from children of all ages. As you can imagine, there are plenty of funny stories to tell.

My favorite memory was listening to our volunteers share their JA experiences and stories. The intent of teaching was to give back to the kids in our communities, but an unexpected delight was realizing how much the kids gave back to all of us.

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To learn more about volunteering with Junior Achievement of North Florida, please visit www.JAjax.com.

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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!