JA Our Region®
In JA Our Region, students examine regional resources, supply chains, and solve problems by weighing risks and potential rewards. JA Volunteers show how resources are combined to create goods and services that individuals, businesses, and organizations provide to customers. JA Our Region consists of five 45 minute volunteer led sessions.
Following participation in the program, students will be able to analyze how entrepreneurs use resources and work with each other to produce goods and services in a community. They will also be able to recognize the skills, tasks, and concepts an entrepreneur must master to start a successful business.
Session One: Am I an Entrepreneur?
Students explore well-known businesses, their origins, and the traits common to the
entrepreneurs who started them.
The students will:
- Recognize the impact entrepreneurs have on a community or a region.
- Apply traits common to successful entrepreneurs to their own skills and abilities.
Session Two: Regional Resources – Tools for Entrepreneurs
Students are introduced to resources and how entrepreneurs use resources to offer products and services in a region.
The students will:
- Recognize natural, human, and capital resources.
- Analyze products and services that can be offered by using resources.
Session Three: The Hot Dog Stand
Students learn about the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and play a game that allows them to see money coming in and going out of a business.
The students will:
- Explain the importance of keeping an accurate account of a business’ financial information.
- Track the revenue and expenses of a business.
- Recognize the fundamental tasks required to run a business.
Session Four: Entrepreneurs are Problem Solvers!
Students journey through the complex world of business problem-solving by weighing potential risks and rewards and tracking the outcome of their choices.
The students will:
- Apply the business problem-solving process.
- Recognize that there are potential risks and rewards to business decisions.
Session Five: My Region in the World
Students demonstrate the supply chain through a hands-on manufacturing and trade experience.
The students will:
- Recognize the interdependence of resource providers, businesses, and consumers.
- Apply the supply chain to a manufacturing example.