The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator

The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator is an interactive and responsive career exploration experience that inspires high school students to develop a plan to pursue a meaningful career and future.

This exciting new experience helps students realize their strengths and interests and how they align with a variety of career choices. Students are motivated by insights from emerging entrepreneurs and stories of Colorado visionaries, tailored to each student’s interests and aptitudes. Volunteers guide students through each of the interactives and share their own real-life experiences to encourage them to think deeply about their future.

JA provides comprehensive learning resources for in-class lessons before and after students’ visit to the Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator. Curriculum is customized to each student’s experience, guiding them through a process to identify, research, refine, and pursue their goals.

Register for 2023/24

“This experience is absolutely incredible. The benefit of coming here is you get to explore your options and you get to find who you are. By finding out who you are, you can make decisions on what you want to do in life.

“I would say it is a 10 out of 10 experience.”

-Edgar Garcia, JA Student

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • Discover how their goals, skills and interests align with career opportunities
  • Explore how their financial goals coincide with career and lifestyle choices
  • Understand the value of an entrepreneurial mindset
  • Improve their applied knowledge of capitalism and free enterprise
  • Leverage additional tools and resources to develop and pursue future education and career goals

THE DANIELS FUND JA DREAM ACCELERATOR SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING:

CDE High School Standards

  • Analyze the impact of education, skill development, and cost of living factors related to income
  • Set goals and monitor progress on attaining goals for future success

Colorado Essential Skills

  • Demonstrate awareness of how dreams and interests translate into career pathways at local, regional, national, and global areas

ICAP Requirements

  • The ability to plan and set realistic goals can lead to a sense of well-being and positive mental health
  • What is your greatest hope for next year/your future?
  • What colleges/ careers/ military branches have you researched and how might this research support you in the future?
  • What are your future goals and what steps do you need to take in order to accomplish these?

VISIT DETAILS:

Up to 40 students can experience this discovery center per session

Sessions last 1.5 hours and educators can choose from two different time options

Students will rotate through six experiences

Located inside the JA Free Enterprise Center (6500 Greenwood Plaza Blvd.)

The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator includes two lessons prior to the visit and two lessons after the visit. The lessons are educator-led and required to be completed to ensure a meaningful experience for students. All materials are provided by Junior Achievement.

Pre-Visit Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
  • Analyze and examine results of an interest inventory assessment
  • Identify top career, education, and training opportunities based on personal interests and aptitudes
  • Discover entrepreneurial characteristics in order to develop growth mindset strategies
  • Reflect on assessment results
During Their Visit
Students will participate in six interactive experiences:
  • Introductory Film – Inspires students to be excited about the legacy of entrepreneurship in Colorado and their role in continuing that legacy through their own future
    • Picture Your Strengths – Gain perspective on how their personal qualities, strengths, and aspirations can provide the foundation for passion-driven careers
      • Colorado Business Hall of Fame Laureates – Discover how the careers of laureates match their own interests
        • Reality Check – Understand the costs that are associated with their anticipated adult lifestyle
          • Entrepreneurial Mindset – Educates students on the key attributes of the entrepreneurial spirit
            • Visualization – Illustrated mural engages students to consider their future goals and greatest hope
            Post-Lesson Objectives
            Students will be able to:
            • Analyze their career interests and alignment with Picture Your Strengths experience results
              • Reflect on lifestyle aspirations from the Reality Check experience considering the cost of education and training
                • Create short- and long-term goals and next steps based on their reflections
                  • Have the confidence and knowledge to take the next steps in their career journey

                  For more information about this first-of-its-kind program, email DreamAccelerator@JARockyMountain.org.

                  Designed by Gallagher and Associates, the creative designers behind
                  the Spy Museum, the College Football Hall of Fame, and the US
                  Olympic Museum, just to name a few – the Daniels Fund JA Dream
                  Accelerator will be a place for discovery.

                  Thank you to our Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator Program Supporters:

                  $100,000+

                  Beacon Fund

                  $50,000+

                  Denver Broncos Foundation

                  Up to $25,000+

                  City of Aurora

                  Janus Henderson

                  KPMG

                  LARRK Foundation

                  Mayer-Phillips Foundation

                  Our Impact

                  2022-2023 School Year

                  0
                  Students Reached
                  0
                  Schools Reached
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                  Districts Reached