All posts tagged: workforce readiness

JA Enhances Teaching Experiences with Cutting-Edge Technology

Zebra’s ET40 tablets help the non-profit organization provide an engaging, efficient and eco-friendly way to simulate real-life scenarios for students.

Junior Achievement of South Florida (JA) is part of a worldwide network that strives to inspire and educate students in financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship. Junior Achievement of South Florida is one of 100 plus Junior Achievement locations in the United States and serves approximately 80,000 students a year.

Kids Run the World

As part of its mission to better prepare students for real-world scenarios, Junior Achievement of South Florida offers interactive courses that allow kids to be adults for a day. JA BizTown is a mock city with 18 storefronts sponsored by real local businesses. When students arrive, they are assigned careers for the day, such as bank tellers, doctors, attorneys, magazine editors and meter readers. Students perform that role while interacting with other students and businesses within the town.

Eighth graders get a similar experience with JA Finance Park. While it looks and feels similar to JA BizTown, it is a different program with different goals. Students receive a profile and a life scenario for the day where they simulate real-life decisions for that profile. Additionally, students learn about different career paths they might want to pursue.

A More Interactive Experience

Before 2017, faculty printed course packets for students who attended both JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. The packets contained details about the course and each student’s role in the simulation. With thousands of students attending each year, the amount of paper printed each day was significant. Additionally, staff spent extra time printing course materials and preparing for the next round of students.

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JA Enhances Teaching Experiences with Cutting-Edge Technology
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JA Receives $20,000 Grant From MONAT Gratitude

JA’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a competitive, global economy

Lifestyle Media Group
May 26, 2022

MONAT Gratitude has awarded Junior Achievement of South Florida a $20,000 grant as part of its $1 million pledge to close achievement gaps in underserved communities worldwide. The grant will provide funding for 68 students to participate in JA Fellows, a highly intensive leadership and entrepreneurship program for high school students.

The grant results from MONAT Gratitude’s efforts to support new and existing initiatives in arts and culture, youth sports and recreation, and youth entrepreneurship. MONAT Gratitude has invested more than $380,000 in youth education programs globally in 2022.

“Nonprofit organizations receiving grants from MONAT Gratitude are focused on enriching our youth with arts and culture, sports, entrepreneurship and recreation education because we’ve learned that extracurricular activities in these areas promote development of motor, language and social skills,” Lu Urdaneta says, CEO of MONAT Gratitude. “By supporting these programs, we hope to positively impact student outcomes in communities across the globe.”

MONAT Gratitude was founded in 2014 by MONAT Global, an international healthy aging haircare, skincare and wellness brand. A Florida registered nonprofit organization, MONAT Gratitude partners with innovative nonprofit organizations in its local communities that support efforts under its three pillars: families, children and education.

“We envision a world in which young people have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities,” Laurie Sallarulo says, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of South Florida, based in Coconut Creek. “We also believe education can be a catalyst to a life of opportunity and true economic mobility. Junior Achievement is honored to provide over 54,000 students annually with top-quality educational programs to improve their knowledge and financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship skills. Thanks to funders like MONAT Gratitude, Junior Achievement is empowering young people to own their economic success.”

Eligible nonprofit organizations can learn more and apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 through MONAT Gratitude’s grant page at monatgratitudegoal.com.

JA Receives $20,000 Grant From MONAT Gratitude
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