#businessSPOTLIGHT: Junior Achievement of South Central PA
What services or products does your business offer?
Junior Achievement’s goal is to improve student circumstances by giving them a belief in themselves and a sense of purpose. JA is committed to partnering with schools and community members to serve as a source of inspiration for students, helping them to take an active role in preparing for their futures by exploring careers, developing strong employability skills, and setting goals. Through engaging, experiential lessons and volunteer interactions, JA programs help students see the relevance of what they are learning in the classroom and its application to the real world, acquire or enhance the skills they need to be successful in the workforce or postsecondary institutions, and recognize the value of an education. This knowledge helps students learn to manage their finances, understand basic economic concepts, explore careers, and develop in-demand job skills. Consequently, as adults, they will be more prepared to enter the workforce, make informed financial decisions, and contribute to the success of their local economy.
How does your business separate itself from your competition?
Junior Achievement of South Central PA builds relationships with schools and provides our programs at a grade level so all students participate in our programs. Junior Achievement is a volunteer-led delivery organization that has 8,000 volunteers working with students to inspire them to have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. All JA programs are FREE of charge to schools. JASCPA inspires over 100,000 students annually.
How do you see your business growing in the future?
Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization that relies on the business community’s support for volunteers and funding. We cannot grow without continued volunteer support and funding. Our goal in the 23-24 school year is to reach 110,000 students. There are more students in our region than we can serve due to the need for increased funding and support, but we are working on it!
How does your business get involved in the community?
Junior Achievement works with many companies and organizations within south central PA to provide career readiness and financial literacy learning opportunities to our local students. Parents, business owners, employees, and community members make up our 8,000 volunteer opportunities each year.
We work with schools in 14 counties to bring our programs to students. We are a community-based organization.
How long has your business been a member of the Chamber?
Junior Achievement has been a member since 2012!
How has Chamber membership been beneficial to your business?
The Chamber has allowed us to meet the people who make up our great community and introduced us to businesses and people who care about making sure our next generation is reaching their full potential. The Chamber has been a great resource for JASCPA on many levels.
Chances are you know of Junior Achievement by another name…JA, JA BizTown, JA Our Region, STEM Summit, REAL Life, JA Inspire… Junior Achievement is ALL those things AND MORE!
- Junior Achievement is a volunteer led delivery organization.
- Junior Achievement is classroom/school based. Junior Achievement covers work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship (Our three pillars).
- Junior Achievement is a business based non-profit.
- Junior Achievement provides ALL K-12 programs, to schools FREE of charge!
Junior Achievement envisions a world in which students have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. Our promise is always to provide learning experiences that help students reach their potential. In other words… our name is our promise and JA has been inspiring students in south central PA for over 62 years!
Contact: Lisa Vaughn; 717-843-8028; lvaughn@jascpa.org; www.jascpa.org