A member of the Junior Achievement of Southern California’s Board of Directors puts a smile on the face of a young student of Emerson Elementary School.

The Junior Achievement of Southern California (JASoCal) Board of Directors took over Emerson Elementary School on Friday, October 26. The team of 40 business professionals spent the day investing, involving and inspiring over 500 students by teaching them about financial education, career awareness and entrepreneurship.

For the past six years, JASoCal has been working with Compton Unified School District (CUSD) to bring financial education into the classroom. In JASoCal’s efforts to inspire kids to achieve and become self-sufficient, an ongoing partnership has been established.

“Our JA Day has been an exciting event that brought alive the relevance and connection between what our students are learning in school and the “real world.” Thanks to JASoCal, our students ended the day inspired and focused on their future goals,” said Lisa L. Davis, principal at Emerson Elementary School.

The JA teachers-for-the-day included business professionals from companies like Wells Fargo, E! Networks and KTLA. These volunteers taught students techniques on how to achieve success in the business of life. They took the day off their regular jobs to teach these Compton students a variety of life lessons-from the importance of a firm handshake to how to balance a checkbook-all essential skills needed to be successful in this day and age. “Emerson Day is something our board looks forward to each year. The energy and support we receive from the school is fantastic! This day is about more than just volunteering, it is about changing lives,” said Gary W. Hickman, president of Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement’s program teaches elementary schools the basic concepts of business and economics and shows students how education is relevant to the workplace.

Junior Achievement (JA) of Southern California was founded in 1954. During the 2005-2006 school year, JA reached nearly 200,000 students with programs on career awareness, financial education and entrepreneurship. The core purpose is to inspire kids to achieve in every way possible at this business we call life.

Published in : Family, Education