Statements
Mission
Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee is a nonprofit that inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy.
Background
JA USA was founded by Horace Moses, Theodore Vail, and Sen. Murray Crane of Massachusetts in 1919 as a collection of small, after-school business clubs for students in Springfield, Massachusetts. Students were taught how to think and plan for a business, acquire supplies and talent, build their own products, advertise, and sell. JA students competed in regional expositions and trade fairs and rubbed elbows with top business leaders. JA of Middle Tennessee was founded in 1957 by Sam Fleming, President of Third National Bank.
Impact
In the 2023/24 school year, Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee invested over 506,400 hours with 32,317 students. Our organization reaches K-12 students across 22 counties with focus on financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship skills. Our goal for the 2024/25 school year is to invest over 550,000 hours with 38,000 students!
Needs
JA needs volunteers, financial support, and opportunities to create stronger relationships with program area schools. This academic year JA plans to reach over 38,000 K-12 students across the 22 counties throughout Middle Tennessee. In order to achieve this goal, JA will need the help of 4,300 volunteers and approximately $1.8 million donated through corporate, foundation and individual donors.
CEO Statement
Junior Achievement is all about reaching kids and showing them what they can be in life! Our curriculum helps young people develop the economic skills they need to lead independent and productive lives. By teaching kids how the economy works - in the classroom, in after-school programs and through simulations - JA provides kids the opportunity to make informed decisions for themselves, their families, their communities, and our country. JA programs are specially designed to correlate with state and national educational standards and focus on six key content areas: Business Citizenship, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Ethics/Character, Financial Literacy, and Career Development. JA programs are unique because our concepts build from one grade level to the next and are taught by volunteers from the local business community. Known as our secret sauce, volunteers bring real-life business experience and guidance to the classroom and act as role models for students. The JA volunteer, by taking time out of his or her day to go into the classroom, shows students that "the community cares about me and values what I do." The programs work because of one simple best practice: placing positive role models from the business community into classrooms.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Student Services |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Middle Tennessee
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Houston |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Stewart |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Fentress |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Lincoln |
| TN - Lawrence |
