In JA Career Speaker Series, a volunteer guest speaker visits the classroom and shares information about his or her career, work, and education experience. The speaker may bring props, work samples, or other visuals to help engage students.
Following participation in the learning experience, students will be able to:
JA Career Speaker Series is part of the JA Work and Career Readiness Pathway and can be placed in grades K–12. The learning experience is available in classroom based, remote synchronous, recorded video, or after-school/out-of-school Implementation. Activities and implementation design vary based on grade level.
JA teachers and volunteers are encouraged, as part of this learning experience, to utilize the resources available in JA Connect® Learning Pathways, located at connect.ja.org. This self-guided experience includes interactives, JA Here to Career™, games and apps for student use.
JA Learning Experiences support national and state standards in reading, mathematics, social studies, and work and career readiness. See below for more information on alignment with national and state standards.
Junior Achievement USA gratefully acknowledges Citi Foundation for its dedication to the development and implementation of JA Career Speaker Series.
JA Economics for Success reveals the heart of a successful economic life: choosing the right career and managing money properly. JA Economics for Success is part of the JA Financial Literacy and JA Work and Career Readiness Pathways and is recommended for middle school students.
JA Economics for Success is recommended for grades 6 to 8. This volunteer-led, kit-based program is available for classroom-based and remote classroom implementation. It includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
As part of this program, JA teachers and volunteers are encouraged to utilize the resources available in JA Connect™ Learning Pathways, located at connect.ja.org. This self-guided experience includes interactives, JA Digital Career Book, games, and apps for student use.
JA Finance Park is Junior Achievement’s capstone program for personal financial planning and career exploration. This program consists of a curriculum and a simulation, helping students build a foundation on which they can make intelligent financial decisions that last a lifetime, including decisions related to income, expenses, savings, and credit. This program will allow students to engage with volunteers and practice what they’ve learned by developing a personal budget.
JA Finance Park is recommended for 8th to 12th grades. A minimum of 13 lessons is offered in a traditional classroom presentation format, and a project-based learning (PBL) format is available for high school delivery. Both traditional and PBL formats provide educators with a delivery method that best meets their students' needs. JA Finance Park (Entry Level) culminates in a hands-on budgeting simulation implemented at a JA Finance Park facility, mobile unit, or virtual site.
As part of this program, JA teachers and volunteers are encouraged to use the resources available in JA Connect™ Learning Pathways, located at https connect.ja.org. This self-guided experience includes interactives, JA Digital Career Book™, and games and apps for student use.
JA Global Marketplace Blended Model introduces students to the global marketplace and how countries buy and sell from each other. By completing this program, students understand producers and consumers in the interconnected global market. They analyze the similarities and differences among countries and the effects of free enterprise.
JA Global Marketplace is recommended for 6th to 12th grades. The program is blended, available in classroom-based and remote synchronous implementation. It consists of seven 45-minute sessions and offers two implementation options:
JA It's My Future offers students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students develop the personal branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job.
JA Inspire is recommended for 6th to 8th grades. It’s a volunteer-led program that can be implemented as a classroom-based, remote synchronous, or after-school program. It includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
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. Topics include communication and presentation skills, manners, listening skills, and cell phone etiquette.
JA Inspire is recommended for 6th to 12th grades. It’s a volunteer-led program that can be implemented as a classroom-based, remote synchronous, or after-school program. It includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. The minimum delivery is three sessions; the number and topic of modules can be determined based on student needs and available time.
The JA Our Community program emphasizes work readiness intersected with social studies learning objectives. Topics include careers, production, innovation, earning, taxes, government, money, business, and decision-making. The student will develop a sense of career awareness and learn how all jobs help a community. The theme throughout the curriculum will emphasize how they, as citizens, benefit from and contribute to a community’s success in the future. Students will come to see how a community works together to be successful.
JA Our Community is recommended for second graders. It’s a volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 40-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Families introduces students to learning objectives for first-grade social studies, including families, neighborhoods, money, and needs and wants. Through hands-on classroom activities, first-grade students will also explore the concept of entrepreneurship, specifically how businesses provide goods, services, and jobs for families.
JA Our Families is recommended for first graders. It’s a volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 30-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Nation introduces students to the intersection of work readiness and upper elementary grade social studies learning objectives. Through hands-on classroom activities, the learning experience provides students with practical information about the nation's free-market system and how it serves as an economic engine for businesses and careers. It also introduces the need for entrepreneurial and innovative thinking to meet the requirements of high-growth, high-demand careers and the concept of globalization in business.
JA Our Nation is recommended for fifth-graders. It’s a volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions and one optional supplemental session, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and upper elementary grade social studies learning objectives, including regions, resources, supply chains, and problem-solving. The experience provides students with a practical approach to starting a business while preparing them to be entrepreneurial in their thinking to meet the requirements of a demanding and ever-changing workforce.
JA Our Region is recommended for fourth graders. It’s a volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Ourselves introduces students to the intersection of financial literacy and early elementary grades social studies learning objectives. Through hands-on classroom activities, the learning experience provides students with an introduction to personal economics and the choices consumers make to meet their needs and wants. It also introduces students to the role of money in society while providing them with practical information about earning, saving, and sharing money.
JA Ourselves is recommended for kindergartners. It’s a volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 30-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Personal Finance 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, and investing. At the conclusion of this program, students will be able to demonstrate that their personal finances affect their quality of life. They will understand how their financial choices will be the basis of how they get what they want and need.
JA Personal Finance is recommended for 9th to 12th grades. It includes six sessions, including communication and presentation skills, manners, listening skills, and cell phone etiquette.