Alliance Data volunteers Amanda Haney and Mark Thompson discuss personal finance with eighth grade students at Genoa Middle School.
On Friday, October 4, Junior Achievement hosted JA in a Day at Genoa Middle School. Community partners Alliance Data committed to providing both the volunteers and funding needed to carry out this event. Genoa teacher Ashley Frownfelter, who organized the event, learned about this program during a district Professional Development Day session.
Twenty-seven Alliance Data volunteers delivered the JA Economics for Success program to 322 Genoa students in 13 eighth grade classes. The accelerated delivery model, JA in a Day, allows pupils to receive information from a six-week program over the course of a single day. The day was divided into six hands-on activity sessions where students:
- Learned to better understand the concept of self-knowledge as they consider education, career and other life choices;
- Gained an understanding of setting goals by playing a game that demonstrated the connection between finances, education and careers;
- Looked at budgeting and received occupation cards to see how different jobs provide different monthly incomes;
- Discovered the advantages and disadvantages of using debit and credit cards;
- Examined how a credit score is determined and learned the consequences of a positive and negative credit report; and
- Studied the importance of insurance in reducing financial risk.
Alliance Data volunteers shared real business experiences and provided personal examples to bring the program to life. They introduced the students to the realities of today’s global marketplace, and challenged them to develop competitive work skills.
In 2012, a volunteer-based partnership was established between Junior Achievement and Alliance Data. The presence and impact employees were able to make in Central Ohio schools launched a desire for further involvement this school year. Alliance Data, headquartered in Westerville, embraced the opportunity to impart the JA message to local students at Genoa Middle School.
Junior Achievement’s purpose is to educate and inspire young people to understand business, economics, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and workforce readiness. For further information, please visit www.jacols.org.