Volunteering Opportunities

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JA Ourselves
 JA Ourselves is the first introduction for students into the economics of life – work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.  JA volunteers lead sessions with engaging stories and dynamic activities that help instill the values of earning, saving, sharing and works ethically.
 
The goals of Ourselves are to:
- Increase the students’ understanding of personal economics
- Help students discover that individuals make choices
- Introduce students to money, with an emphasis on earning and saving money
- Make the students aware of the importance of education for their future
 
JA Our Families
 
Children tend to think everything they want is something they need.  Learning to recognize the difference between the two is one of the first crucial lessons in financial literacy.  By focusing on the roles of people play in their local economy, students understand the importance of work, and the tools and skills to get – or earn – what they want.
The goals of JA Our Families are: 
- Increase the students’ knowledge of how jobs provide for a family’s needs and wants.
- Help students become more aware of the types of jobs family members hold.
- Heighten the students’ awareness of how each person contributes to the well-being of the family
- Help the students learn the importance of working to pay for needs and wants

JA Our Community
Understanding life outside of home and school begins with students taking a look at how things work in their communities.  This programme puts community life into perspective for students as they explore matters of business, citizenship, economics, and the interdependent roles of people working in a community.
 
The goals of JA Our Community are:

• Help the students discover a variety of occupations.
• Discover what elements are typically found in a community.
• Develop the students’ awareness of which businesses operate within the community.
• Increase the students’ understanding of how government works to support services for the well-being of its citizens.
• Heighten the students’ awareness of how citizens must take responsibility for the well-being of their community.

 
JA More than Money
 “What good is earning money if people aren’t taught how to save, spend and share it?  This programme instills these essential skills in students, and shows them how entrepreneurial thinking and financial savvy can transform an idea into a business that can generate jobs and wealth for themselves and their communities.

Students will be able to:

• Identify the role of money in everyday life.
• Think like entrepreneurs and identify a small business they can start.
• Learn the basic steps of starting a business.
• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of borrowing money.

• Explore the opportunities of global markets.

 
JA It's My Business
If entrepreneurship is behind a country’s economic success, then what is behind entrepreneurship itself?  Can one learn to think and act like an entrepreneur?  Most definitely.  This program teaches students the four key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs:  believing in themselves; filling a need; knowing their customer and product; and being creative and innovative.
 
JA It’s My Business will provide an engaging, academically enriching, and experiential learning sessions in entrepreneurship.  The students will be able to:

• Define entrepreneurship
• Identify four key entrepreneurial characteristics
• Describe how entrepreneurs fill a market need
• Discuss the role of market research in determining market need and competitive advantage
• Recognize how being creative and innovative are necessary entrepreneurial skills for starting a business
• Develop business plans based on a set criteria

Following participation in the program, students will be able to apply their entrepreneurship skills to education, career, and service pursuits.