Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 22, 2010
In local schools, Junior Achievement helps reinforce teachers’ messages
Erica Tuggle
It’s another typical school day in Hamilton County, and somewhere students are looking at their homework, wondering when they will ever use “this stuff.” Luckily, students in Junior Achievement (JA) across the nation are engaged in lessons with hands-on activities that let them know exactly when they will use what they learn.
Adults might not remember this, but even a simple financial practice, like how to write a check, has to be taught. In JA programs, this is just one of the many things they do in providing business, financial and economic education from kindergarten through high school.
Megan Dearing, the program director for the local chapter of JA, says these lessons are brought into the schools by business and community volunteers, parents, retirees and college and high school students. The lessons come in curriculum kits based on the worldwide JA’s education group research. These programs correlate with state and local education standards so teachers can justify having the lessons in their classroom.
For elementary students, there are five visits from JA throughout the year, six visits for middle schools and five to seven visits for high schools, depending on the program being taught, says Dearing. With JA, every lesson is interactive and hopes to reinforce the standards teachers are already working on in a different way, with a new perspective.
Dearing has been with JA since July 2005 after graduating from UTC with a degree in human services management and political science. She says she began this work, and stays with it, because she is all about the kids.
“I believe that teachers do a great job during the school day, but it’s great to bring the business community and outside volunteers into the classroom and let the kids hear the same message to stay in school and get an education coming from someone other than a parent or a teacher [to] reinforce what we are all trying to do.”
Dearing says the ultimate goal of what they are all trying to do, and a big reason she is with JA, is encouraging children to have a role and be well-integrated members of society.
“All of our programs talk about the importance of staying in school, getting an education and finding a place after high school, whether it is going to Chattanooga State for a couple of years and learning a trade or getting an associate degree and then going on for a bachelor’s. We want every student to have a place to fit in and use their skills,” she says.
During the 2009 to 2010 school year, JA of Chattanooga reached 9,140 students in 474 classrooms in 56 schools in Hamilton, Catoosa, Walker and Marion Counties. There were 429 volunteers teaching JA last year in local classrooms. The goal is to reach 500 classrooms and 9,300 students in the 2010 to 2011 school year.
Besides their work in the schools, JA is active in the community as well with special events the whole year through. In August, “Strike for Education Rock ‘n Bowl” attendees build employee relations outside the office, and the business community helps JA raise funds. The upcoming Nov. 10 “Free Enterprise Society Breakfast Banquet” will introduce JA to Chattanooga’s business leaders and grow JA’s individual contributions. The “Big Bids for JA Kids” live auction party at Bessie Smith Hall will return next year, in February, as well as the “Spirit of Achievement Award Luncheon” in March to salute the corporations that help JA stay strong.
Dearing is also involved in the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga, and was recently nominated for their community service award for her work with JA. She says she guesses her passion for what goes on in the lives of children, not just in schools, but in the community as well, is what put her up for the nomination.
“I think children face so many challenges, [both at school and at home], that were different when I was growing up, so I want students to have every opportunity to be successful. I feel like everybody should be as passionate about it as I am,” she says.
As part of her passion to improve the lives of children, Dearing also volunteers with the children’s ministries at Hixson United Methodist and at the Creative Discovery Museum with the Tower Club: a group of young professionals that help with events and programs already going on at the museum.
She says, “I think one of the things I like about the museum and JA is that kids learn without realizing that they are learning. It’s neat to watch them connect the dots between school and the business community when you see the light bulb go on in their little brains.”
For more information on Junior Achievement visit www.jachatt.org.
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