Goodwill of Greater Washington, recently signed on as the JA Finance Park® Clothing storefront partner in the forthcoming JA Finance Park® Montgomery County, opening in the fall of 2017. As the Clothing Storefront partner in JA Finance Park® Montgomery County, Goodwill of Greater Washington will play an instrumental role in guiding JA Finance Park® graduates through the reality of budgeting for their family's clothing and inspiring them to find the right balance between needs and wants.
Junior Achievement unveiled a brand new online resource that allows teachers, school counselors, and parents to help high school students better understand the finer points of financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. The resource, JA Influencer, is part of JA®’s ongoing effort to empower young people to own their economic success and has been made available through a generous grant from Voya Financial®.
A new study from Junior Achievement USA (JA) shows that 42 states now have K-12 standards, guidelines or proficiencies in entrepreneurial education, up from 19 in 2009.* Additionally, the number of states requiring entrepreneurship education courses offered in high school has risen from five to 18 over the same period. JA, which conducted a review of state requirements, released the report as part of National Entrepreneurship Month, which occurs in November.
Dave Zahren, Reporter and Television Specialist for Prince George’s County Public Schools, stopped by JA Finance Park® Prince George’s County where Gohlson Middle School students were busy learning the ins and outs of financial literacy. As Zahren concludes his report, “Congratulations to all the Finance Park® graduates for learning early on that money does, indeed, make the world go round, but only if you use it wisely.”
The President and two of his senior advisers – his Science Advisor, Dr. John Holdren, and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith – met some of that talented next generation as they welcomed student winners from national entrepreneurship competitions to the White House, including Rachel Gorgas, CEO of the JA Company of the Year CCA Today, and Joseph Fortuno, winner of the JA Microsoft Social Innovation Award for his company Herban Movement.
Recently, Gallup conducted a survey of more than 1,200 public school district superintendents across the nation in hopes of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of their perceptions and opinions on the top issues facing U.S. schools. When it came to the question of measuring a school’s “effectiveness” in producing successful and effective graduates, superintendents pointed less toward traditional indicators of success, like the different paths taken by students post-graduation, and more toward abstract indicators, such as a student’s hope for what’s possible in the future. In fact, 80% of the education leaders surveyed consider hope a “very important” measure of a public school’s effectiveness.
Under the columns of the National Building Museum this December, Junior Achievement, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and Washingtonian inducted five of our region's leaders who have done much to ensure Greater Washington remains a place where families and businesses thrive. And, listening to the reflections of Seth Goldman, Sheila Johnson, Joe Rigby, John Toups, and Scott Wilfong I was struck by the path that each of them took to find their own American Dream.
