JA Programs
Junior Achievement Programs
Junior Achievement's unique delivery system provides the training, materials, and support necessary to bolster the chances for student success. The impact is measurable, too. Students who participate in Junior Achievement programs demonstrate a significant understanding of economics and business concepts. We invite you to take a closer look at our programs!Learn How You Can Volunteer
Our programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.
Career Connections for Young Women
Career Connections for Young Women is geared to inspire young women to focus on careers, professional goals and financial responsibility. Through a series of ten-session students will participate in a variety of workshops, activities and lessons from one of JA’s most powerful high school curriculum, JA Career Success. In addition, the lessons will be enhanced with experiential learning through industry specific panel discussions, soft skill training and career exploration. This program is aimed to provide young women with practical advice and wisdom about the world of work, from how to get hired to understanding your personal brand.
Entrepreneurial Academy
The Entrepreneurial Academy is a unique opportunity that brings urban and suburban high school students together at a corporate site to gain skills in entrepreneurism, leadership, teamwork, ethics and career development. The focus of the 15-week, 30-hour program will be the development and launching of an actual business, using the “JA Company Program” curriculum. The program has run successfully since its start with The Hartford in 2013. The program has now grown to three sites, The Hartford, Stanley Black & Decker, and Pratt & Whitney partnered with Goodwin University.
JA Be Entrepreneurial®
JA Be Entrepreneurial challenges students, through interactive classroom activities, to start their own entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. The program provides useful, practical content to assist teens in the transition from being students to productive, contributing members of society. (Grades 9-12)
JA Business Communications™
JA Business Communications is a one-semester teacher-led course that equips high school students to focus on communication skills necessary to succeed in business. (Grades 9-12)
JA Career Speakers Series™
In JA Career Speakers Series, a volunteer guest speaker visits the classroom and shares information about his or her career, work, and education experience. (Grades K-12)
JA Company Program®
JA Company Program empowers high school students to fill a need or solve a problem in their community and teaches them practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business venture. (Grades 9-12)
JA Economics® Blended Model
JA Economics Blended is a one-semester course that connects high school students to the economic principles that influence their daily lives as well as their futures. (Grades 11-12)
JA Economics for Success®
JA Economics for Success gives students the information needed to build strong personal finances, a cornerstone to a happy, secure life. Students learn the importance of exploring career options based on their skills, interests, and values. They also learn about spending money within a budget; saving and investing wisely; and using credit cautiously. (Grades 6-8)
JA Entrepreneurial Mindset™
JA Entrepreneurial Mindset is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basics of starting a business. (Grades 9-12)
JA Excellence through Ethics™
Through JA Excellence through Ethics, students will learn the importance of ethics and ethical decision-making and how ethical and unethical choices affect everyone in a community. (Grades 6-12)
JA Financial Capability™ 1
JA Financial Capability 1 is a one-semester teacher-led course in which high school students examine financial capabilities from a business perspective, focusing on banking, economics, business planning, and risk management. (Grades 9-12)
JA Financial Capability™ 2
JA Financial Capability 2 is a one-semester teacher-led course in which high school students examine financial capabilities from a business perspective, focusing on employee benefits, ethics, business investment, and international business operations. (Grades 9-12)
JA Financial Literacy™
JA Financial Literacy is a one-semester teacher-led course that equips high school students with foundational personal finance skills.(Grades 9-12)
JA Global Marketplace®
JA Global Marketplace Blended Model introduces students to the global marketplace and the ways in which countries buy and sell from each other. Through completion of this program, students will gain an understanding of producers and consumers in the interconnected global market. (Grades 6-8)
JA High School Heroes™
JA High School Heroes provides leadership development opportunities to high school students who deliver JA programs in elementary schools. (Grades 9-12)
JA Introduction to Business and Technology™ 1
JA Introduction to Business and Technology 1 is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basic skills necessary to succeed in business. Themes include teamwork, innovation, decision making, and ethics. (Grades 9-12)
JA Introduction to Business and Technology™ 2
JA Introduction to Business and Technology 2 is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basic skills necessary to succeed in business. Themes include personal skills like innovation, management functions, and accounting. (Grades 9-12)
JA It's My Business!®
Through engaging activities, JA It’s My Business! Blended Model provides middle school students an opportunity to experience the initial steps necessary to start a business. New program content provides an authentic entrepreneurial experience for students, with each session building up to a product-pitch competition. (Grades 6-8)
JA It's My Future®
JA It’s My Future Blended Model offers middle school students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students will develop the personal-branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job. (Grades 6-8)
JA It's My Job™ (Soft Skills)
JA It's My Job (Soft Skills) will help students understand the value of professional communication and soft skills, making them more employable to future employers across multiple career clusters. (Grades 6-12)
JA Launch Lesson™
JA Launch Lesson is a point-of-entry program delivered by community entrepreneurs. Students gain firsthand knowledge about starting a business and the entrepreneurial journey. (Grades 9-12)
JA Marketing Principles™ 1
JA Marketing Principles 1 is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to marketing and some basic marketing techniques. (Grades 9-12)
JA Marketing Principles™ 2
In JA Marketing Principles 2, a one-semester teacher-led course, high school students learn about marketing in the world around them and potential careers in the field. (Grades 9-12)
JA More Than Money®
JA More than Money introduces students to financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and to social studies learning objectives that include money-management skills, goods and services, and global markets. Through hands-on activities and a JA cast of characters serving as symbols for financial literacy and entrepreneurship concepts, students will learn a practical approach to starting a business and making smart decisions about managing money. (Grades 3-5)
JA Our City®
JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for third–grade social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city.
JA Our Community®
JA Our Community uses posters and games to offer practical information about businesses and the many jobs those businesses offer in a community. Students explore production methods through a simulation game, and they learn about taxes, decision making, and how money flows in an economy. (Grade 2)
JA Our Families®
JA Our Families explains how family members' jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of the family and of the community. The program introduces the concept of needs and wants and explores the ways families plan for and acquire goods and services. Students analyze their own skills to determine ways they can support their families. (Grade 1)
JA Our Region®
JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region. Students operate a hypothetical hot dog stand to understand the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and to track the revenue and expenses of a business. (Grade 4)
JA Ourselves®
JA Ourselves uses storybook characters in read-aloud and hands-on activities to introduce the role people play in an economy. Through engaging, volunteer-led activities, young students learn about individual choices, money, the importance of saving and giving, and the value of work. (Kindergarten)
JA Personal Finance® Blended Model
JA Personal Finance Blended Model 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. (Grades 9-12)
JA Titan®
JA Titan allows students to operate a virtual company through a Web-based simulation. The students' success depends on decisions about their product's price and their company's marketing, research and development, and business practices. Win or lose, students gain an understanding of how management decisions affect a company's bottom line. (Grades 9-12)
Jr. Apprentice
Jr. Apprentice (JrA) serves as an education to employment link designed to enhance and strengthen student motivation to graduate high school with robust pathways to a successful work life while simultaneously breaking down barriers youth face in the job market. It is a year-long work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy initiative for inner-city Hartford students that involves weekly training, off-site experiential learning at businesses and institutions of higher education, and culminates with each student earning a paid internship at a local business.
JA Program Resources
With schools closing, Junior Achievement is providing free online resources to teachers and parents. We are doing this so our kids can spend more time planning for and dreaming about tomorrow, and less time worrying about today. We are committed to doing this until we can all be certain again.
JA Program ResourcesJA Correlates To State Standards!
Junior Achievement programs correlate to various national, state, and district educational standards. See how by clicking below!
JA Correlation StandardsSee the Results!
Survey results prove that JA is preparing students to develop successful financial management habits, empowering them to explore the potential of becoming an entrepreneur, and providing them the skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.
JA Programs Evaluation ResultsJA Programs Scope and Sequence
Learn more about the concepts and skills of JA Programs.
JA Scope and SequenceMore Awesome Learning Opportunities!
JA programs supplements provide students with additional information and engaging learning opportunities.
JA Program Supplements