In November 2021, Bethune Elementary hosted a JA Day for their students. JA volunteers came into the classrooms and provided critical lessons on financial literacy. One educator had this to say about the experience:
“The pandemic has brought about a lot of stress and loss for many of our students. However, it has pushed educators to stretch their minds and create new strategies to engage students. I don’t know if Junior Achievement planned to upgrade their program or if the pandemic pushed them to create a new vision, but after working with the 8th graders for the past 4 years, Junior Achievement has outdone itself.
This year, the program was even more engaging, and it seemed it would work online and in person. We were fortunate to have community volunteers come to our classrooms and work with our students. They used the games and the new interactive format to create energy and excitement for all our students.
Each activity started with introducing financed-based vocabulary that many of our students had never heard of before. Then, the students worked together on mock scenarios and determined how they would balance a budget on a low wage job, what type of credit cards they should apply for, how to plan a party on a budget. JA brought real life situations to the classroom.
I even had a parent state, ‘Aprendieron mucho mi hija.’ In English that would read, ‘My daughter learned a lot.’ That simple quote from a parent illustrates how transferable the lessons our student learned that day. When students share with their families, we are creating change beyond the students who may sit in front of us. We are attempting to create generational change.
Thank you, Junior Achievement for a wonderful program! Mary McLeod Bethune’s students appreciate you and hope to see you again next year!”
It is because of inspiring words like these that we can truly see the impact of our programs and the difference it is making on the lives of the individual students. We are so thankful to have provided this experience at Bethune Elementary and our proud to partner with such a great school!
