|
Program - Dena Kidd, Senior Development Officer, Junior Achievement of Arizona  Wendell Jones introduced our speaker. He said he was thrilled to introduce a very, very dear friend. He said he and Dena had worked together for years and years and years. She has been with Junior Achievement for thirty-two years, which Wendell said was quite an achievement for a 29-year-old. She is married and has a 23-year-old son who has recently been admitted to nursing school. Dena said she was very happy to be at the meeting. Junior Achievement has many partnerships with Rotary Clubs. Enough members were familiar with Junior Achievement that she was glad to be "talking to the choir." COVID has made life interesting the last couple of years.  It was founded in 1919 in New England. Families were moving from the country to the cities and kids need to learn how to handle themselves in a business environment. In 1957, Junior Achievement of Arizona opened in Tucson. In 1975, they began teaching in K-12 classrooms expanding from entrepreneurship education only to include financial literacy and work readiness education. In 2001, they launched JA BizTown at their Tempe Learning Labs, and in 2009, they introduced JA Finance Park at the Tempe facility. Before the pandemic, they were reaching about 80,000 primarily low-income students. During the Pandemic, that number dropped to around 70,000 in a virtual environment. They expect to reach 90k000 primarily in a hybrid environment low-income students this school year. They have twenty-plus programs addressing four major areas: - Financial Literacy
- Career Readiness
- Entrepreneurial Spirit
- Critical Thinking
Went from after-school to in-school programs in 1975 in order to reach more kids. Volunteers go through training. In elementary school, kids learn basic concepts using all styles of learning. In middle-school, they start preparing teens to think about where they want to be and how to best prepare for their educational and eventual professional needs to reach their dreams. In high school help kids prepare for economic reality. There are stepping stones that build on each other. JA Learning Lab in Tempe - JA Biz Town 4th-6th grade. practical skills are learned in a little city. They have to learn a business for a day. Loan from bank. Shop has to pay loan off by end of the day. They get paid twice a day and have to keep track of what they earn and what they spend. It helps them connect the dots to real world experience. Comments, - Wow, now I know why my parents are so tired at the end of the day.
- Wow, I never thought I could be a Mayor or CEO at 10-years old.
They give tours all the time. During COVID they had to stop in-person volunteering. JA Finance Park - for middle and high-school students. They learn how to manage a family budget. They learn about interest rates and how education can impact their earning potential and how saving today can affect their future. They put their knowledge into action in their learning center. They are assigned circumstances that vary. They have to go around the town to buy what they can afford from their budget. They receive comments like these: - I had planned to move out of my parents house when I turn 18, but now I think I will stay there a few years so I can save up some money.
- I don't want to be an adult...
JA Inspire - Middle and high school students explore careers of the future. On-line prep lessons in classroom. Career identification and educational preparation planning. 100 companies participating. A great way for students to learn about companies and companies to reach out to students. Mesa Schools Just met with Mesa Public Schools. They have committed Middle and High School students will get to participate in the JA Inspire Program. This represents an approximate $55,000 investment COVID brought about many changes. A good change was the development of Virtual components to supplement all their programs. Developing community partnerships to increase their capacity to reach youth in meaningful ways through their virtual experiences.. Mary - Latina - single mother participated in workforce readiness program. Through a JA event internship through University of Phoenix. Completed college degree for free. She has a great job in human resources, and she and her son are doing very well. JA relies on support from the community. Volunteer, support, participate, share expertise, make tax credit donation. She showed a photo of children and suggested we consider helping Junior Achievement empower each and every one of them. Dick Myren commented about an experience.in 1968, in Iowa, using a Junior Achievement program. They worked with kids to set up a company, identify a product, produce and sell the product, and produce a report at the end. The youth his group worked with won a national competition and the team got to travel to New York. Barry Goldwater was a speaker at the event they attended there. One evening, they went to a show and were at a table near Joan Rivers and Bob Hope. Dena invited Mesa West Rotary to tour their Tempe facility. Dan pointed out the sling John Pennypacker was wearing and asked for help from members in getting the banners down and put away. John thanked the members who helped him put the banners up.
|
The classy serving platter shown in the photo was abandoned by its owner following the January 22 Post-Holiday Celebration held at Pam Cohen's home. Pam has already expressed a growing attachment and is more than happy to provide a loving environment until such time as someone contacts her to claim it. 
Jim Erickson - Rotary Minute - Significance of January 27
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
.png)
