During the 2010 – 2011 school year students at Ansonia High School participated in Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut’s economic education programs, JA Personal Finance and Success Skills, thanks to a Special Needs Grant from the Valley United Way.
Junior Achievement inspires young people to own their economic success with a proven educational model through empowering and relevant curriculum.
JA Personal Finance program helps students prepare for their future financial life by demonstrating the importance of budgeting, saving, investing and the use and abuse of credit, protecting identity and managing risk through insurance products. Students will understand the purpose of setting goals and making wise financial choices. The goal is to empower graduates to take ownership of their own financial success.
JA Success Skills is a career oriented program which meets the Valley United Way Special Needs criteria by demonstrating the relevance of staying in high school until graduation. Focusing on workforce readiness, students learn to create resumes, complete job applications and prepare for job interviews. They also learn appropriate work site behavior and the importance of both personal and professional ethics.
“Research has shown that too many young people reach adulthood lacking economic and financial skills to manage their personal finances or to meet the demands of the workplace,” says Bernadine Venditto, President of the JA of Western Connecticut chapter. “Junior Achievement offers an alternative and with the support from community organizations like the United Way, we can continue to expand the number of Valley area children who benefit.”
Last year over 5,100 students in the Greater Valley area participated in nationally recognized Junior Achievement programs.
Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to teaching students about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness. It reaches nearly 9.9 million students around the globe, with more than 19,400 participating locally. The lower Naugatuck Valley area is one of the three areas served by Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut, along with the Greater Bridgeport area and Greater Danbury area. Founded in 1946, the chapter is an affiliate of the largest, fastest growing nonprofit economic education organization in the world. JA in-school and after-school programs are offered in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Volunteers from the local business community teach programs designed to promote education and the free enterprise system through hands-on experience and the basic principles of economics and finance.
