The Y in Central Maryland has partnered with Junior Achievement for almost ten years, offering financial literacy to youth in grades k-12. Their fun enrichment programs have enhanced summer camp and out of school time, college and career readiness and entrepreneurship programs. Youth have enjoyed on-site, in school and virtual experiences. Their competent staff are extremely accessible and will train your team to implement their program with fidelity and excitement to meet the youth needs. I highly recommend their affordable services for your youth development financial literacy needs.
The Mayor's Office of Employment Development is excited to partner with Junior Achievement of Central Maryland to provide work readiness and financial literacy training to youth/young adults in Baltimore City.
Mrs. Jonaye Ford of JA has shared numerous educational opportunities that positively impacted these young adults. The activities are enlightening, thought provoking and easy to understand. This organization is amazing and a great resource.
In SY19 and SY20, I was a member of the partnership that brought JA Inspire, a dynamic career development experience gives middle school students access to high-growth careers and area employers, post-secondary education opportunities, and interactive career activities, to Baltimore County Public Schools. This video summarizes the experience. We're working to offer a virtual JA Inspire experience for SY21.
I recently participated in JA Leading Ladies and I had a great time! :)
The first thing i realized was that it was a truly safe environment without judgement. I was nervous at first, but everyone was very welcoming and made the activities and discussions very comfortable and easy.
I really connected with my mentors at the event and left empowered to think beyond my day to day routine as well as to think more critically about my future career pathways. The activities were very engaging and relevant, and I wish there were more events like this that I could participate in. I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to be in an event like JA Leading Ladies! :) Thank you JA for all that you do for students like me. ❤️
I have been taking our 5th grade class to JA BizTown for the past 15+ years,and without exception, the children say it is their favorite field trip ever. The children love being an adult for the day, and say their only complaint is that the day didn't last longer. Parent volunteers are so pleased to have their children learn important life skills in such an engaging way.
Hoping to visit JA BizTown again soon.
I have been fortunate enough to volunteer with Junior Achievement for several years. My involvement with Biz Town as well as high school activities has been enormously rewarding. JA has a very visible, positive impact on the students who participate in their events. Watching a 5th grader gain confidence and experience while participating in a micro-economy exercise at Biz Town is so rewarding. The practical knowledge shared with high school seniors during Junior Achievement budgeting exercises shows them real world scenarios on the choices they will face as they leave home and deal with managing day to day finances.
Junior Achievement has developed an effective approach of communicating real world knowledge to students at many levels. It is immensely rewarding to the volunteers who choose to participate as well. I look forward to my continued involvement with this great nonprofit and have become an active recruiter for volunteers in my community.
Working with Junior Achievement of Central Maryland is a wonderful blessing. The team is outstanding as they work collectively to empower our future through innovative experiential learning which results in more successful outcomes for students. I have been involved with this organization for over 20 years and continue to be impressed with their focus on staying relevant and impactful to the communities they serve.
I am proud and honored to be a part of Junior Achievement of Central Maryland - providing volunteer-delivered, kindergarten-12th grade programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire students in our community to dream big and reach their potential. JA of Central Maryland's leadership, staff, and board have been working tirelessly as we are currently in the midst of moving into a new modern learning facility that will enable us to continue our mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. JA of Central Maryland does amazing work with the school kids in our region, and we are very excited for the years to come.
Any organization that is looking to increase the education and skill sets of our youth AND are able to get our youth to embrace the education is clearly hitting a home run. The support from the youth, parents, educators and the local business community is outstanding! I see more fiscal responsible and intelligent young adults coming out of Maryland because of the JA of Central Maryland work!
Junior Achievement's curriculum has helped my 7th graders take control of their financial futures. Many of them are not aware of issues such as credit, taxes, savings and investments, and career choices. JA provides the materials and experiences that bring these ideas home. Their materials were especially useful during the pandemic - a lot of curriculae that we use as teachers did not translate well into a virtual setting. JA does translate well - and engaged my students even during the roughest times when we first went virtual The JA Online Biztown is a particular highlight for a lot of 7th graders. I look forward to many more years of student engagement with Junior Achievement materials.
I started teaching middle school Family and Consumer Sciences last year. We didn't have a lot of resources, then I found Junior Achievement. I love their PowerPoint slides. The kids were able to complete worksheets on their own because they were easy to follow.
Junior Achievement of Central Maryland is a top-notch organization that serves young people throughout the region. All three of my children have gone through JA programs and each one has asked to attend again. The JA team and curriculum really do set kids up to succeed in the real world and future. There is no other safe place where kids are taught how to start and run a business. Students learn that all businesses have both successes and failures.
I would highly recommend Junior Achievement of Central Maryland.
I LOVED it when our daughter got to participate in JA Biz Town! She had such a great day there... she was on the newspaper and said it was awesome! She felt as if she was learning how to do a real job in a very fun way and would love to do it again if she had the chance!!! :)
I volunteered that day... that was a lot of fun too! :)
Extremely kind and helpful staff. This whole company is dedicated to helping and educating students and doing all they can to make sure the students are the top priority
I volunteered with JA for their "Inspire" event held at the fairgrounds. I was thoroughly impressed with how well ran the event was. All the volunteers/workers were extremely nice to the students and other volunteers. They were patient with the students (and their were thousands) and were helpful when needed. I'm interested to see how JA Biztown is.
I had the great pleasure of working with Junior Achievement at the Her Path to Promise Event. Their communication was consistently professional and responsive, and the event was a powerful opportunity for the young women. I am grateful for the opportunity to volunteer with them and hope to do so again in the future.
My relationship with JA started when I was in grade school as a student. Fast forward 20 years, and now I've partnered with them as a supporter and volunteer. Our company has participated in their Office Warriors event for the past few years and we have a BLAST every year. We even came in second place out of 20 teams this year! The teambuilding and camaraderie were awesome, and everyone felt connected and energized.
I've also attended their networking events and CEO panels, and each event has been such high quality and has had a missional message to it - one that focuses on bringing people together and promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.
I can't recommend them enough!
Being apart of Junior Achievement for only one year, I was able to gain extreme amount of experiences than any other program I have participated in. I gained work experience, business etiquette, and best friends along the journey. I've learned tactics to network with outside vendors and customers, collaborate with teammates in other departments, and talk with variety of mentors to help me with my future. What I learned as a participant in the program, was the change in my work ethic. Before the program, I did clubs and extracurricular because I had to. I did clubs and programs with no actual interest in the field. However, with Junior Achievement Rising Women, I was able to feel a real connection and passion with my experience. Working along other girls with the same drive in a similar goal was simply empowering to feel. It made the experience so much worthwhile than having a simple written 'extracurricular' on my resume.
Junior Achievement Rising Women has helped me grow as an individual and has shaped me to be who I am today. Because of this program, I know that I would like to pursue Finance and Entrepreneurship in my future. I learned valuable skills, such as how to maintain finances, developing leadership skills, and gaining confidence in my abilities. Everyone who works at JA wants to help you achieve your goals and will go the extra mile to assist you in any way they can.
JA Rising Women is a program that helped me grow tremendously in confidence and leadership skills. I went into the program with no business experience and very little confidence in my leadership skills. Through JA, I have been able to learn about the ins and outs of business and learn what it means to be a leader. Having this leadership role is something I would not have come across if it weren't for JA Rising Women.
This experience was very empowering and motivating and taught me valuable business and communication skills.
At Junior Achievement of Central Maryland (JA), we believe that youth need to be exposed to business concepts early and often, from kindergarten through grade 12, to understand that ownership is a viable opportunity. We offer online tools and in-classroom programs as well as our flagship JA Company Program, an immersive, hands-on experience that gives high school students the opportunity to start and run their own businesses. We are proud to create a scalable impact with holistic content at a lost cost per student. Our programs align with community needs and we work in a collaborative manner to pursue long-term outcomes. Our programs are empowering a generation to transform “I can’t” into “I can”.
JA is an amazing program for a couple of reasons. It provides a solution to a known, and important, gap in our formal education in the United States, to teach children about the importance of strong financial habits, and the economy. It helps children to build independence and, specifically in Biz Town, an understanding about being a part of the workforce that is hard to learn in the classroom. The programs, JA in a Day and Biz Town, teach financial, economic, and business lessons in a fun and enjoyable way, and watching the students enjoy learning about those topics makes me happy to be a part of developing their future as bright, engaged members of the workforce. In addition to those programs JA also encourages diversity and inclusion through their conferences and other programs, which is another important aspect of a strong economy. Finally, JA focuses resources on STEM and entrepreneurial skills, which have for a long time been the bedrock of American business, and it is refreshing to see a focus on teaching those skills to children. I am proud to be able to support an organization that makes learning these topics fun for children.
I was a shark at the product presentations. The students were prepared, professional and articulate. What wonderful work JA is doing to prepare students for the world of work.
I have been in involved with JA of Central MD for over 6 years. In that time I have probably participated in 15 JA in a days and 20 plus JA Biztown's. I have had the opportunity to bring along well over a 100 team member Volunteers from Wells Fargo over the years. I believe passionately about the focus on job readiness, education, financial literacy and challenging kids to dream big and think beyond their neighborhoods into a global world marketplace. I love JA.
Junior Achievement of Central Maryland is a life-changing nonprofit organization. It's JA BizTown is an awesome learning opportunity that every child should experience. The city simulation helps children learn about the economy, business, careers, personal finances, and so much more. The University of Baltimore Beta Alpha Psi honor students love volunteering at JA BizTown. It's a meaningful way for them to volunteer, apply their financial knowledge, and help to make a difference in the community.
Junior Achievement really impresses!
I was asked to be a guest shark to ask questions, and provide feedback for 4 teams of Junior Achievement girls, at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship in Howard County.
Each team presented a pitch on a product. The products were: A portable charger, hair tie connector, customized binder, and a waterproof pouch for cell phones.
The poise with which these teams operated was impressive. Their presentations included a power point, with a SWOT analysis within.
At the end of the night, the sharks selected the product in which they had the most confidence could be a success, and the participants did the same. Interestingly enough, the selections were the same. Now the entire group will continue its work on the selected project (the portable charger). As I was leaving, they team was dividing itself into departments of the company that would work on the project.
I was a first time shark for this event, but other sharks had participated previously. I am constantly amazed what students can do, when nurtured by their directors and mentors, who are to be commended.
If you are asked to be a shark, and I hope that invitation comes to me again, be sure to say “yes!”
Junior Achievement of Central Maryland is a shining example of experiential training for grade school students. The interactive learning curriculum prepares them for financial success as become independent and set out to pursue their careers. All of the classroom learning culminates in a hands on experience, as the students take on all of the roles required to make a fictional city, BizTown, run for day. I have been privileged to volunteer for a couple of these days and experience first-hand the fun and memorable experiences that JA creates for all of their students.
I've been a frequent volunteer in the classroom for JA. I generally work with kids who have been through JA programs a few times already and love seeing how much of the material they have retained from previous years. The kids seem to look forward to their time with us working on a JA program and are highly engaged. Improving their financial literacy and helping kids identify how they can utilize their strengths/interests in a career are key benefits from these vital programs.
Junior Achievement presents a fun and new opportunity for a volunteer. JA has many programs for volunteers to participate in. I have enjoyed volunteering at JA Biztown and JA in a Day. Having the experience to interact and mentor children at this early stage in life is very rewarding.
I use Junior Achievement programming to bring the real world into my classroom throughout the year. The JA Career Success and JA Personal Finance are fantastic turnkey classroom resources that offer engaging learning experiences for students. JA Job Shadow allows students to go from the classroom to the boardroom, getting an in-depth perspective on how a local business is ran. Finally, JA Company Program allows students to flex their creative muscles while engaging in an authentic business experience that is 100% driven by their ideas.
Hina Naseem from JA arranged for 20 Howard County Educators to visit and tour our Live Casino & Hotel site. We gave them on overview of careers so they could tell the High School students who might want to work for us in the future. Our Executives spent time to explain their operations and answer questions from the Educators. It was a great learning experience. We appreciate the connection and planning involved by JA!!