New Data Shows Junior Achievement Impacted More Than 94,000 Tampa Bay Area Students in 2014-2015
Tampa Bay, Fla. – Junior Achievement (JA) is the largest financial literacy provider for young people in the world and is significantly growing in the Tampa Bay area. The organization celebrated its 50th anniversary by empowering 94,579 students with financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness programs during the 2014-15 school year:
- Ranked 11 of 115 JA Areas in the country in terms of students reached
- Twenty-seven consecutive years of growing number of students served
- Instructional hours totaled over 900,000 hours
- Thirty-nine percent of all students in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties received a Junior Achievement program
“Our goal is to provide professionally prepared financial literacy, workforce preparation and entrepreneurship programs to more children,” said Richard George, JA of Tampa Bay President. “Twenty-seven years in a row, we have grown our program. It’s about young people and their futures. It’s all about bringing real programs to K-12 students and accounting for them accurately.”
Junior Achievement offers 21 programs that are age and grade level appropriate. The programs are delivered by local volunteers who are trained by JA staff and spend an hour per week for five to seven weeks or one entire day in the classroom.
Junior Achievement programs are increasingly taking advantage of online learning and blending technology with classroom teaching. For example, JA Finance Park® Virtual incorporates twelve classroom personal finance lessons with four online virtual simulations. High school seniors create an avatar, are given a hypothetical life situation and learn to make smart budgeting decisions.
“We supply materials and online activities. With support from the corporate community and schools, Junior Achievement provides a comprehensive curriculum that also emphasizes the importance of staying in school,” said George.
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 more than 4.6 million students per year in 113 markets across the United States, with an additional 5.6 million students served by operations in 118 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information.
About Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay
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 provides relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Last year, Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay reached 94,579 students in the Tampa Bay area. Visit jatampabay.org for more information.
Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay
