Salisbury, MD — Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore (JAES) is proud to announce that in the 2018-2019 school year its programs reached more than 9,000 students.
During the 2018-2019 school year, JAES served 9,448 students in 416 classes with more than 73,000 volunteer hours spent with local students. Its programs were brought to life by 231 volunteers, with funding from more than 200 donors.
JAES serves the counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The JAES mission is to educate youth, grades K-12, on financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. The hands-on, age-appropriate programs inspire youth to live within their means, prepare for the world of work and understand the free enterprise system. Programs are taught in the schools by local business volunteers in the communities it serves.
Some highlights of the 2018-2019 JAES program year were:
- The first ever JA Inspire, an experiential program, held at the Wicomico Civic Center in March, that presented 1300 Wicomico County 8th-grade students with hands-on opportunities from more than 90 local businesses on the Eastern Shore.
- Leadership Day, a 2nd-grade program where students get their first job, their first paycheck, and learn about taxes. The program culminates with a fun simulation featuring the Comptroller of Maryland, Peter Franchot, for students to see first-hand how taxes are used to keep communities safe.
- Career Success Day, a program for high school students to learn how to apply for jobs, how to communicate in a work environment, and other invaluable soft skills needed to obtain and maintain a job.
- Finance Park Virtual, a middle and high school program that aims to show students why budgeting and saving are imperative to their financial success. The program culminates in a virtual simulation where students are randomly assigned life scenarios in which they must buy transportation, pay for somewhere to live, buy groceries, and all the other budgetary items real adults must account for in the real world.
“This was one of our most successful years ever,” said Jayme Hayes, JAES President. “We’re extremely grateful for the partnerships we have with our local schools and we’re honored to serve the students of the Eastern Shore. Our staff is looking forward to serving even more students this upcoming year.”
There are 45,000 students in the JAES service area on the Eastern Shore. The JAES curriculum reaches 20% of the total student population. JAES is looking to expand and you can help… by volunteering. It is simple and not time-consuming. Volunteering in the classroom is a great corporate teambuilding experience, and parents can even select their child’s classroom, if available.
Anyone looking to get involved with JAES can contact Lisa Thornton at lisa.thornton@ja.org or 410-742-8112.
