All Grades

JA Career Speaker Series

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:

  • Identify skills and interests.
  • Recognize career clusters.
  • Practice active listening skills.

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.

Classroom Based
Virtual
After School
6 – 8th Grades

JA Economics for Success

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
8 – 12th Grades

JA Finance Park

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
6 – 12th Grades

JA Global Marketplace

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:

  • Basic implementation includes Sessions One–Six delivered by the volunteer.
  • Advanced implementation includes Sessions One–Six delivered by the volunteer and Session Seven delivered by the teacher or volunteer.
After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
8th Grade

JA Inspire

JA Inspire is more than a career fair: It brings together the business community and local schools and is designed to help launch middle school students into their future—high school, college, and careers beyond. During the JA Inspire expo, students participate in hands-on activities, often using equipment or tools used on a job. The multi-hour experience is configurable to align with local industry and career opportunities.

JA Inspire is recommended for 6th to 8th grades. It’s a volunteer-led and educator-led program that can be classroom-based, remote-live, or after-school. The program is both classroom and event-based and consists of three segments:  in-class sessions presented by the classroom teacher, the hands-on JA Inspire expo, and an in-class debrief.

This program can be combined with JA Inspire Virtual to meet the needs of educators, students, and volunteers.

Virtual
6 – 8th Grades

JA It’s My Future

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
6 – 12th Grades

JA It’s My Job (soft skills)

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.

Classroom Based
After School
Virtual
3rd Grade

JA Our City

JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching™ introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city. Dr. Alice Wilder, an award-winning expert on childhood learning (Blue's Clues, SUPER WHY, Cha-Ching, Speakaboos, and Amazon Kids original programming), consulted on the learning experiences redevelopment.

JA Our City is recommended for third-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. Spanish translation is available for JA Our City. New features include Cha-Ching financial literacy music video enhancements, digital posters and games for use in the classroom, extended learning opportunities and optional supplements, and augmented reality activities to do at home.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
2nd Grade

JA Our Community

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
1st Grade

JA Our Families

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
5th Grade

JA Our Nation

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
4th Grade

JA Our Region

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual
Kindergarten

JA Ourselves

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.

Classroom Based
Virtual
After School
9 – 12th Grades

JA Personal Finance

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.

After School
Classroom Based
Virtual