Category Archives: JA volunteers

JA Capitalism with a Conscience at Gateway High School

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Keith Jones at Gateway HS for Capitalism With ConscienceI’ve been fortunate enough to volunteer with Junior Achievement for the past two years.  It wasn’t until this past week, however, that I conducted my first “Capitalism with a Conscience” program at Gateway High School. The program basically deals with ethics and business — doing the right thing at work.  It was a complete thrill to experience with the students!  From the moment I arrived, being greeted and treated with respect, by my JA chaperon (Tara Petersen) put me in the right frame of mind to deliver the materials. The teacher was Candy Lane and she and her class were a joy to be around.

Life is often about timing and how perfect for me to be in that classroom discussing ethics in business while the Toyota situation played out in today’s news.  We had some tremendous debates going on and the students took to the lesson and ran with it.   I know in our short time together I was able to give them something to think about and, as always, I’m sure a few of them will use the information as they move into the workforce.

As a returning volunteer, let me take the time to thank all of the JA staff for what they do. There are too many names to mention individually, but their dedication and commitment to success for all concerned (volunteer/school/JA) is unbelievable! I feel we, as adults, should take a more active role in trying to teach proper/moral business values to our youth, who in turn will be better equipped to lead our nation. I’m only hoping that as I get older, my small volunteer investment will be rewarded by having competent and compassionate leaders to look after me!

JA is a PERFECT organization to support, because when everything is said and done it’s all win/win…for the kids/school/administrators/JA and most importantly YOU. How could you NOT want to be a part of something so rewarding? GO AHEAD, TAKE THE CHANCE, AND GET INVOLVED.  THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE TO FEAR IS CHANGING A KID’S LIFE.

-Keith Jones

JA’s President and CEO in the Classroom

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Robin Wise Junior Achievement President and CEO PhotoMore than 3,500 volunteers will participate in Junior Achievement classrooms this year and count among them the president and CEO of JA, Robin Wise. Robin is teaching the high school program – “JA Success Skills.” Here’s what she has to say about her experience.

“I just got back from teaching my fourth session of JA Success Skills to a class of juniors at South High School. I LOVE it, and absolutely have a blast with the students each week. I have to admit that having never taught this particular JA program before I was a bit nervous. In fact, I told the students how I was feeling during my first visit — they laughed. Come to think of it they laugh at a lot of stuff I say, but that’s part of what makes this experience so much fun! “My kids”, as I have sometimes refer to them, have come to the United States from 14 countries like Ethiopia, Congo, Eritrea (which I learned is a country that is bordered by Sudan and Ethiopia), Russia, Mexico, Vietnam and Algeria to name a few. No matter what their background, the language of possibility is the same, and that’s why together we experience so many possibilities.”

Accenture named Junior Achievement extreme partnership award Recipient

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Junior Achievement – Rocky Mountain announced today that the prestigious JA Worldwide® Extreme Partnership Award goes to Accenture, the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, and the Accenture Foundation. Accenture has a long-standing relationship with Junior Achievement, involving funding, board participation and volunteer activity.

The annual JA Extreme Partnership Award was created to recognize one JA Worldwide board company that has made a significant, strategic, global impact on all levels of the organization for at least three consecutive years. Minimum support in each year must include international funding of US$1 million, 1,000 volunteers and board leadership in at least 10 Junior Achievement locations around the world, in addition to the board of JA Worldwide.

“Junior Achievement values its partnership with Accenture. The engagement of Accenture volunteers and board members promotes JA’s outreach and program goals,” said Robin Wise, president and CEO of JA Rocky Mountain. “Accenture’s pro bono work locally has helped us achieve our goal of reaching 95,000 students in Denver, Northern Colorado and Wyoming.”

In 2008-09, Accenture supplied worldwide program support that included more than 1,000 volunteers (classroom volunteers, pro bono service providers and board members) and funding and in-kind donations exceeding $2.6 million. It provided $617,000 in funding to 31 local JA Member offices around the world, and employees served on 24 local JA boards.

“In this fast-changing world, skills are a key driver of economic empowerment,” said Todd Dunbar with the local office of Accenture and a JA board member. ”We are proud to work with Junior Achievement to help young people learn the skills they need to build confidence and capabilities that will, ultimately, help open doors to employment and independence.”

Disney Is Teaming Up With JA To Celebrate Volunteerism

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Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain is celebrating the commitment of volunteering by partnering with Disney to reward our volunteers through the “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” program. Disney will give each volunteer a free, one day admission to Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort.

If you are a JA classroom volunteer, serve as a JA Job Shadow host or are participating in one of JA’s site-based programs all of this fits the Disney, “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” criteria. Starting now, JA-Rocky Mountain volunteers can register online at www.DisneyParks.com and search under the category “Education and Technology” to find Junior Achievement volunteer opportunities and sign up for a day of positive action. After you sign up and complete your day of service, the JA office will verify your volunteering and you will receive an email from Disney prompting you to log in to their account. After logging in you are able to print your Disney theme park ticket voucher.

If you haven’t had a chance to volunteer for JA, it’s not too late to get into a classroom and then qualify for your free day at Disney. Click here to see our current volunteer needs in your area.

“Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain is proud to partner in this action initative with the HandsOn Network,” said Robin Wise, president of JA Rocky Mountain. “We also want to thank the Disney organization for taking the time to recognize the good that people do in their communities—thus inspiring even more new volunteers.”

(Volunteers must pre-register and sign up for eligible volunteer opportunity at disneyparks.com. Ticket quantities for this program are limited. Must be at least age 6 to participate. Other terms and conditions may apply. For details, see disneyparks.com)

Ethical readiness for the workforce – are today’s kids ready for it?

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Capitalism With Conscience, Neil Culbertson

A recent national poll conducted by Junior Achievement (JA) and Deloitte indicates teens freely admit to unethical behavior today.

A few of the key findings:

  • 80% of teens believe they can make ethical business decisions when they join the workforce, yet 38%  think they have to break rules at school to succeed nearly half believe that lying to parents/guardians is acceptable with 61% having done so in the past year.
  • Only 25% said they would be very likely to reveal knowledge of unethical behavior in the workplace.

Because “moral courage is a missing piece in today’s business environment” says Robin Wise, President and CEO of Junior Achievement – Rocky Mountain Inc., we (JA) decided something needed to be done.

In 2002, in response to high profile corporate scandals and a negative public perception of business prompted the JA staff created a program where executives could engage local high school students in an interactive conversation about personal character and business ethics issues.  Called “Capitalism with a Conscience” (CWC), the goal of the program is to help high school students understand that ethics is doing what is right – even if no one is watching, event if it costs more money or takes more time and event if it goes against the majority.

What really makes this program unique is that local business executives visit classrooms to share their own values and beliefs, provide examples of ethics in their day-to-day decision making, and engage students in discussions about real-life ethical decisions they face in school life and personal relationships.

It’s a win for all involved – from business volunteers to teachers to students:

  • Gary Lutz, EVP/Head of Private Banking and volunteer from Wells Fargo believes that it might help “if kids could just understand that the unwritten rules of what happens between your buddies are not that dissimilar from what happens in business.”
  • “It’s not only a unique opportunity to put yourself in front of students, but it’s a way to give back without having to write a check” states Brian Addy, President and a volunteer from Ad-Venture Capital Management.  He continues “we all face ethical decisions that are not necessarily profit oriented and we see it quite often in the news where people just lose their moral compass”.
  • “The CWC program helps bring the real world, with its relevant issues, up close and personal for the students”, says Pam Cummings, teacher at Dakota Ridge Sr. High.
  • Matt Nicolo, teacher at Thomas Jefferson High believes that “having a business professional come into my classroom and re-emphasize what I’ve taught makes all of the difference in their (students) retention of the material.”

What JA wants to communicate to young people through the CWC program is that the vast majority of business is conducted honestly, and that “business” is an honorable profession to pursue.

“With CWC we hop to teach students a way to make decisions so they can act on their onw values and confront unethical behavior in the classroom, in their jobs, and with their friends”, says Wise.  And progress is being made, 22% of teens surveyed said they would act unethically if there was no risk of getting caught compared to 33% a few years earlier.

Obviously, there is still room for improvement.  As a business person reading this, we hope you’re ready to influence our future leaders and provide them a foundation for dealing with Capitalism with a Conscience.

Triche Guenin, president of Partners Through Change, Inc., a process improvement consulting firm, and is a business volunteer with Junior Achievement.