Since 1919, Junior Achievement has made an impact on more than 30 million young people by educating and inspiring them to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. JA's ultimate mission is to ensure that every child has a fundamental understanding of the free enterprise system so that they are prepared to meet the challenges of the global economy.
Junior Achievement has operated in northern Alberta since 1964 when the Edmonton Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsored its first JA program.
According to Penny Haller, program coordinator for Junior Achievement of Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, 20,000 youth a year in the 780 area code participate in nine programs in grades six to 12. Seven hundred business people volunteer their time to offer the programs.
Edmonton businessman Alex Paterson volunteers six hours per semester to go into a grade nine class.
“As representative of business, I try to show the value of staying in school. I ask them to choose their lifestyle – the kind of car, phone, apartment, they would like and see how much money they need. Then they compare how much money they could make now and how much they would make following post secondary education. They see the disparity between what they can make now and with education. It’s a convincing argument to get an education.”
Paterson said he was at first hesitant to talk to thirty 15-year-olds for six hours per semester, but now he finds it fun and challenging.
In grade six students get four hour-long lessons on the basics of business.
In junior high the emphasis is on budgeting and the economics of staying in school.
Grade nine students learn to “make sense of business” in six one-hour sessions. Week long programs are held at Grant MacEwan Community College and Concordia College in Edmonton. A computer simulation helps students make business decisions, analyze and read reports, and learn about Canada’s position in the global market place.
The best three of 24 high school teams in northern Alberta compete in a business computer game in western provincial finals in Vancouver. Of some 800 teams worldwide the top 8 teams are flown to a location somewhere in the world where they compete.
High school students also can run an actual business. From October to March students are exposed to the whole business process, meeting mainly at night.
Another high school program pairs up students with experienced business people who mentor them and tell them about the business process.
Fund raising finances Junior Achievement programs. Last October the Edmonton Oilers and Junior Achievement sponsored a dinner where the featured speaker was Shimon Perez, former Prime Minister of Israel.
History of Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement International is an affiliate of Junior Achievement Inc., which was founded in 1919 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by Horace Moses, then president of Strathmore Paper Company. The original goal of Junior Achievement was to give young people the skills they needed to succeed in a business environment once they entered the workforce. This was accomplished through an after-school program that gave students the opportunity to run their own company set under the direction of a volunteer business person.
Beginning in 1974, Junior Achievement began developing programs for in-school use. With this new focus, business people actually went into the classrooms to share their experiences with students during normal school hours. Besides being very cost-effective, the programs were able to reach a much greater number of students than the after-school programs. Over the years, Junior Achievement has developed sequential programs that span the K-12 curriculum. JA's Impact 2005 will expand the number of students annually reached in the United States from 3 million to 11 million students by the year 2005.
In 1955, Junior Achievement established its first international operation in Canada. Following this, the program was implemented in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Philippines. By 1989, the program was operating in 15 countries. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, interest in Junior Achievement has grown at a phenomenal rate. Countries throughout the former Soviet Bloc have begun implementing JA programs. This interest in private sector development has also carried over to other regions, including Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia.
To better meet this increased need, Junior Achievement International was established in 1994 to develop and serve JA programs outside the United States. As a result, Junior Achievement International has grown into an organization that annually serves about one million young people in 103 countries. Programs have been developed in 30 languages. Junior Achievement International is a not-for-profit organization with a private sector board of directors and is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO). It is supported by international corporations, foundations, individuals and development organizations.
Why Junior Achievement International?
The demand for JA continues to grow for a number of reasons. First, for many countries trying to attract foreign investment, Junior Achievement programs have a successful track record of promoting a pro-business climate, especially in developing countries. As an example, a recent survey of Junior Achievement participants in The Gambia revealed that 98% of the students participating in the programs had a better attitude toward business as a result of their involvement in Junior Achievement.
Secondly, the general populace will not support economic reform if it does not understand the risks and rewards. Junior Achievement programs promote economic literacy, which eventually leads to sustained economic development. In fact, no country has ever had sustained economic development without a viable private sector.
Finally, by bringing volunteers with business experience into the classroom to facilitate its programs, Junior Achievement International teaches the next generation of entrepreneurs, managers, policy makers and voters the value of free enterprise.
With the opening of markets worldwide through trade agreements and shifts from centrally-planned economies to market-oriented ones, Junior Achievement International's role continues to gain importance by educating young people about the rewards and risks of business and by helping to create pro-business climates in many countries.
Link to Junior Achievement International
<http://www.jaintl.com/>
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