Boeing Awards JA Crystal Vision Award
The Boeing Mesa Employees Community Fund (ECF) has awarded JA its Crystal Vision Award! Given once every four years, the 2007 ECF Crystal Vision Award is a $30,000 grant intended as one-time 'seed' funding for a new and innovative program in the area of Education. The grant will be used to fund JA Finance Park. Targeted primarily to 7th graders, JA Finance Park helps students build a foundation for making intelligent, lifelong, personal financial decisions through hands-on, realistic, site-based experiences. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2008, JA Finance Park will be housed within the new JA BizTown II facility. Thank you, Boeing Mesa ECF! |
| "Birdies for Charity Program"
Help JA through the 2008 FBR Open "Birdies for Charity Program!" Go to http://www.birdiesforcharityarizona.com/
pledge.php and click on the Pledge Form. Fill in your contact info, the amount you want to pledge per birdie and designate it to Junior Achievement BFC# 123. Thanks for your support! |
| Coyotes Charities Deserve Applause!
Thanks to the generosity of the Coyotes Charities, more than 84 fifth graders from Bellair Elementary in the Deer Valley School District will participate in the new JA BizTown™ program. Through 20 hours of classroom instruction, students will learn first-hand what it takes to run a business, work in teams, be wise consumers, and vote for town leaders.
In JA BizTown, some of the students will work at the Sports Shop, where a Coyotes jersey and hockey stick are proudly displayed on the wall. Not every child can grow up to be a sports star, but any child can seek a job in the sports industry.
This is the third year the Phoenix Coyotes have stepped up to make a positive impact on the lives of JA students. We applaud the Coyotes for having the vision to invest in the community with time, talent, and financial resources. | |
Locating Arizona's JA information just got easier! Visit our brand new web site at www.jaaz.org to easily locate our programs, volunteer and scholarship information! |
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Arizona Middle School Essay and High School Scholarship Opportunities
Junior Achievement of Arizona offers two opportunities to middle school students and high school seniors who have been enrolled in a Junior Achievement program during the current 2007-2008 school year. Seniors are eligible to apply for our JA of Arizona Senior Scholarship and middle school students are eligible to participate in our Herman Schmidt Essay Contest.
These two opportunities are only available to Arizona students so the eligible applicants are competing with a smaller pool of candidates with the largest award valued at $5,000! Don't miss out, visit www.jaaz.org for additional information and application forms.
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JA BizTown Officially Opens
JA BizTown™, Junior Achievement's capstone program, opened officially on Thursday, November 8th. Pete Rathwell of Snell & Wilmer LLP, Chairman of JA's Board, cut the ribbon at JA BizTown's entrance. Representatives from many of our sponsors - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Club Entrepreneur, Cox Communications, Sprint, State Farm Insurance, Tru West Credit Union, US Airways and Wells Fargo and Company - were also on hand to officially open our program.
More than 13,000 students will participate in JA BizTown this year. Teachers guide students through nineteen lessons focused on work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship. At their one day simulation, the students spend their day organizing and operating one of 24 businesses. JA BizTown supports our mission, which is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
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| JA's First Student Stock Market Challenge
Smiles all around as Gilbert's Highland High students celebrate their win at the JA Student Stock Market Challenge in October. Pictured (L to R) Crystal Houston (R & R Partners), Chris Malmanger, Lauren Lucchese, Josh Flores, Lacy Mitchell, and Kalea Taylor.
October 4th was a long but successful day for JA teacher Rocco Iencarrelli. That morning, he brought students to Arizona's first JA Student Stock Market Challenge (SMC) presented by R&R Partners. His students were still energized and excited at the event's closing and they spent their entire ride back to the school discussing the event and debating strategies.
After the successful SMC fundraiser in 2006, we wanted a student SMC event like the one JA of the Rocky Mountain had implemented. Using their classroom lessons to ensure sound financial learning, volunteers visited classrooms to educate students about the stock market and investing strategies. At the event, every 60 seconds was a new trading day as "traders" took orders and students made decisions based on standings, share prices, and information on huge screens and in news releases.
"The first thing I asked my teacher when it was over was '(are) they going to hold it next year?'" said one student. The answer is YES! ING Funds announced their presenting sponsorship to ensure the student program will occur in Fall, 2008.
Special thanks to the sponsors and teachers at Desert Ridge, East Valley Academy, GateWay Early College, Highland, and Willow Canyon high schools. Please email Melissa Leasher at melissal@jaaz.org (student event) or Alex Klein at alexk@jaaz.org (fundraising event) for more information.
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New Partner Announcement: Welcome Dial Corporation/Henkle
Dial Corporation/Henkel is a new partner and supporter of Junior Achievement of Arizona. Twice this year, Dial employees volunteered in 18 classrooms to teach students about JA's three pillars (financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship).
Dial adopted two schools in Phoenix: Palomino II Intermediate and Indian Bend Elementary. Dial provided funding as well as volunteers to deliver JA programs to approximately 900 students this year. That's over 70 employees who made a commitment to Arizona's children! Several individuals from Dial were instrumental in the recruitment of volunteers, and organizing the multiple JA Days. Ginger Beauchamp, Mike Koser, and Suzanne McElvaney from Dial have all been strong leaders in preparing for these events and impacting the lives of Arizona's children.
Over the past year, Dial has been a positive, energetic, and wonderful group to work with, and we look forward to many more years of this great partnership.
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