JA Alumni Story: From Behind the Scenes to the Front Lines
Carina Inganamort is an Arizona native who is currently the Communications Specialist for Junior Achievement of Arizona. But never did she dream that her Junior Achievement experience in the 6th grade would come full circle.
“Junior Achievement provides an education and experience that lasts a lifetime,” notes Carina as she recalls her role at Junior Achievement’s BizTown, formerly “Exchange City”. She attended North Ranch Elementary in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has vivid memories of the lessons Junior Achievement provided in her 6th grade classroom. “If it wasn’t for Junior Achievement, I may not have learned how to write a check properly, amongst other necessary life skills.”
Carina participated in the lessons in the classroom and then ultimately landed a “job” as a news broadcaster for her day in Exchange City, a lifelike town simulation in which students work as an “adult” with a job for a day. She remembers walking around town with a camera man and interviewing her fellow classmates throughout the day. “As a very social and theatrical child, I really enjoyed my job for the day and was thrilled to receive a ‘paycheck’ for it.”
Fast forward almost 20 years and Carina was in the market for a part-time position with a nonprofit. When Junior Achievement flashed across a job site, she remembered her time in the program and was immediately interested in learning more. It turns out the very organization that taught her so many valuable work and life skills was now seeking someone to assist in the realm of communication, the very skills she utilized as a news broadcaster for a day.
Carina told her story in her interview for the position and was hired a short time after. “To go from being a student in a Junior Achievement program to an employee of the organization is such a unique experience for which I feel incredibly fortunate,” Carina describes.
Although Carina’s experience with Junior Achievement as an adult has been a unique one, her experience as a child was one which over 84,000 students in Arizona get to have thanks to the incredible efforts of the organization. Junior Achievement continues to provide education in work readiness, entrepreneurship, and work readiness to support Arizona’s future leaders. “I hope one day my son gets to have the Junior Achievement experience help him like it has helped me.”
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