JA in the Classroom
Junior Achievement supports our schools and educators by providing valuable K-12 classroom resources - well-tested, hands-on programs taught by caring community & business volunteers. Our programs focus on basic concepts of economics and show how education is relevant to the workplace. The sequential activities foster lifelong learning and help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future. With a range of different programs, JA teaches about concepts relating to entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness. Junior Achievement’s programs correlate to Common Core State Standards and Grade Level Expectations.
Elementary School
Junior Achievement’s elementary school programs are the foundation of our K-12 curricula. Six sequential themes, each with five hands-on activities, as well as an after-school and capstone experience, work to change students’ lives.
Middle School
Junior Achievement’s middle-grade programs help teens make decisions about how to best prepare for their educational and professional future by developing communication skills that are essential to success in life and career.
High School
Junior Achievement’s high school programs help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future. We offer semester-long, multi-session and capstone programs that build critical personal finance, entrepreneurship and career skills.
Elementary School In-Class Programs
Kindergarten
JA Ourselves uses storybook characters in read-aloud and hands-on activities to introduce the role people play in an economy. Through engaging, volunteer-led activities, young students learn about individual choices, money, the importance of saving and giving, and the value of work.
First Grade
JA Our Families explains how family members' jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of the family and of the community. The program introduces the concept of needs and wants and explores the ways families plan for and acquire goods and services. Students analyze their own skills to determine ways they can support their families.
Second Grade
JA Our Community immerses students in the daily life of their community—the people who work there, the money decisions they make, the flow of the community’s economy, and the importance of being involved and responsible community members.
Third Grade
JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for third–grade social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city.
Fourth Grade
JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region. Students operate a hypothetical hot dog stand to understand the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and to track the revenue and expenses of a business.
Fifth Grade
JA Our Nation provides practical information about the need for employees who can meet the demands of the 21st century job market, particularly high-growth, high-demand jobs. By program's end, students will understand the skills, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math, that will make their futures brighter.
Grades 3-5
JA More than Money introduces students to financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and to social studies learning objectives that include money-management skills, goods and services, and global markets. Students will learn a practical approach to starting a business and making smart decisions about managing money.
Grades K—2 and 3-5
JA Our Neighbors is a series of culturally responsive videos designed to help contextualize concepts introduced in JA’s elementary school programs. The program is designed to help students with their need to bridge the digital divide, promote diversity, increase literacy, and boost confidence when a volunteer visits the classroom.
¡JA Our City, JA Our Community, y
JA More than Money También Estan Disponible en Español!
Elementary Capstone Program
Grades 4-6
JA BizTown blends classroom learning with a one-day economic simulation for 4th through 6th grade students within an 8,500 square foot replica of an American city. Now available for distance learning environments, JA BizTown Adventures is a highly-interactive simulation that takes reality-based learning to a new level by placing students into authentic, real-world scenarios.
Middle School In-Class Programs
Grades 6-8
Offers middle school students information to help prepare them for the working world. Students will develop the personal-branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job.
Grades 6-8
Introduces students to the global marketplace and the ways in which countries buy and sell from each other. Through completion of this program, students will gain an understanding of producers and consumers in the interconnected global market.
Grades 6-8
Provides middle school students an opportunity to experience the initial steps necessary to start a business. This program provides an authentic entrepreneurial experience for students, with each session building up to a product-pitch competition.
Grades 6-8
Introduces students to initial work and career readiness and personal finance concepts. The program offers 6 or more instructional contact hours (ICH) based on modular delivery of at least 6 of the 10 sessions.
Grades 6-12
Helps students understand the value of professional communication and soft skills, making them more employable to future employers across multiple career clusters.
Middle School Capstone Program
Grades 7-12
JA Finance Park introduces students to personal financial planning, budgeting and careers. At the culmination of 12 teacher-led lessons, students participate in a JA Finance Park simulation, a realistic on-site or virtual community, to put into practice what they've learned by exploring careers and developing a personal budget.
High School In-Class Programs
Grades 9-12
JA Career Success Blended Model is an engaging and comprehensive learning experience that introduces high school students to the workplace. As interns, students participate in realistic work experiences in multiple departments of a fictional company, Orbit Boom. The learning experience teaches soft skills and business best practices in the context of scenarios and assignments.
Grades 9-12
JA Titan Blended Model is a simulation-based program in which high school students compete as business CEOs in the phone industry, experiencing firsthand how an organization evaluates alternatives, makes decisions, analyzes the outcomes of those decisions, and then strategizes what to do next.
Grades 9-12
JA Personal Finance 2.0 allows students to experience the interrelationship between today’s financial decisions and future financial freedom. To achieve financial health and wellness, they learn about money-management strategies, including earning, employment and income, budgeting, savings, credit and debt, consumer protection, smart shopping, risk management, investing, credit card usage, debt management, and net worth.
Grades 6-12
JA It's My Job (Soft Skills) helps students understand the value of professional communication and soft skills, making them more employable to future employers across multiple career clusters. Lessons focus on social and soft skill competencies that relate real-life experiences to job skills and prepare students for their future careers.
One Semester and Year-Long High School Programs
Grades 9-12
JA Business Communications is a one-semester teacher-led course that equips high school students to focus on communication skills necessary to succeed in business.
Grades 9-12
JA Entrepreneurial Mindset is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basics of starting a business.
Grades 11-12
JA Economics Blended is a one-semester course that connects high school students to the economic principles that influence their daily lives as well as their futures.
This two-part series consists of semester length, teacher-led courses in which high school students examine financial capabilities from a business perspective, focusing on banking, economics, business planning, and risk management.
This series consists of two one-semester teacher-led courses that introduce high school students to the basic skills necessary to succeed in business. Themes include personal skills like teamwork, innovation, decision making, and ethics.
This series consists of two one-semester teacher-led courses that introduce high school students to marketing and some basic marketing techniques. Volunteers engage with students through a variety of activities that includes subject matter guest speaking and coaching or advising for case study and project course work..
High School Capstone Program
Grades 7-12
JA Finance Park introduces students to personal financial planning, budgeting and careers. At the culmination of 12 teacher-led lessons, students participate in a JA Finance Park simulation, a realistic on-site or virtual community, to put into practice what they've learned by exploring careers and developing a personal budget.
