Central High School and Junior Achievement Grow Partnership

December 06, 2007

[Springfield, MA] A partnership that began with a JA in a Day program for freshmen at Central High School in 2006 has grown to include JA in a Day, High School Heroes and Job Shadow Day in 2007.

In a half-day workshop, more than 700 9^th graders at Springfield Central High School participated in the second annual JA in A Day event at Central High. More than 35 business and college volunteers presented Junior Achievement’s Economics for Success program.

According to Mena DeCarvalho, a teacher at Central said “This JA program is just what they (the students) need. It gives them the opportunity to explore careers, to see how important school is in helping them achieve success as adults and helps them understand the skills they need to succeed.” More than two hundred of the students who participated in the event have requested to participate in other JA programs.

The program was sponsored by a grant from MassMutual Financial Group. Junior Achievement worked closely with Paul Nycz, Assistant Principal at Central High School to coordinate the event. Among the business volunteers were David Southworth, President of Southworth Company, Tom Wolcott, Vice President of Commercial Lending at Citizens Bank and volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers, MassMutual Financial Group, Savage Arms, Moriarty & Primack, PC, Elms College, The Lion’s Den Youth Center, Country Bank, Sovereign Bank, and UPS Capital.

In addition to JA in a Day, students at Central High School are participating in JA high School Heroes and Job Shadow Day. Twenty-one of Mr. Cedric Cunningham’s Career Development class volunteered to pilot the new JA High School Heroes Program. The students are completing JA’s Success Skills program in preparation to become JA volunteers. Once they have completed the program and two volunteer training sessions, the students, in teams of three will present JA programs in a Springfield elementary school in mid-January.

Working with the Springfield School-to-Career program and JA, 350 freshmen at Central High School will have the opportunity to participate in National Job Shadow Day on Friday, February 1, 2008. Students, in groups of 20, will visit local businesses, shadowing workplace hosts, learn about the business and gain a better understanding of the educational requirements vital to having a successful career in western Massachusetts. If your business is interesting in hosting students from Central High School, please contact the JA office at (413) 747-7670.

About Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics and free enterprise. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12. JA offers educational programs that focus on seven key content areas: business, citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics/character, financial literacy, and career development. Today more than Junior Achievement Worldwide reaches almost seven million students in 98 countries. For more information, visit www.jawm.org.