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JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO TRANSFORM JA COMPANY PROGRAM |
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NEWS RELEASE Contact: For Immediate Release: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO TRANSFORM JA COMPANY PROGRAM Announcement at this week's Startup America event begins nine-month process to modernize legacy program Colorado Springs, Colo. - At this week's inaugural "Startup America Partnership" board meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., Junior Achievement USA™ announced the beginning of an intensive, nine-month process to contemporize its legacy student experience, JA Company Program®. The program, which has been in existence since Junior Achievement's inception in 1919, provides high school students the skills and knowledge to start and run an entrepreneurial enterprise under the mentorship of a volunteer from the local business community. By organizing and operating an actual business enterprise, students not only learn key entrepreneurial skills and how businesses function, but they also learn about the structure of the U.S. free enterprise system and the benefits it provides. JA Company Program has evolved through the years, but the resulting changes from the current process are expected to be transformational. The goal is to establish a multi-dimensional experience that will infuse new technologies, promote the newest teaching methodology, and provide young people with opportunities to learn in ways that are both measurable and memorable. By utilizing these new technologies as a tool for interactive learning, Junior Achievement is committed to maintaining relevant and interesting learning experiences in order to help students fully maximize the program and prepare to take their learning into the real world. Junior Achievement aims to impact 50,000 students in five years after JA Company Program is revised. Junior Achievement is hosting an entrepreneurship education vision summit in January, which will convene thought leaders and subject matter experts to kick off the transformation. The conceptualization and design phase is being supported by Emerson, a global manufacturing and technology company, and will result in a relevant, contemporary program model that will engage and empower many young people to own businesses and, in turn, take responsibility for their personal economic success. Jack E. Kosakowski, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement USA, said, "Junior Achievement is committed to providing our students with relevant, real-world experiences that help position them to become successful business leaders, consumers, and workforce members. Our work to reinvent JA Company Program will give young people the capacity to start businesses, create jobs, and help spur U.S. economic growth." The Free Enterprise National Survey conducted in summer 2011 by Junior Achievement USA and the National Chamber Foundation found that nine in ten high school juniors believe it is important for students to be taught about entrepreneurship and two-thirds of those surveyed were interested in taking a class in entrepreneurship. About Junior Achievement USA (JA) Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches four million students per year in more than 120 markets across the United States, with an additional six million students served by operations in 119 other countries worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information. |
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