High school.

JA Finance Park – Entry Level & Advanced (Grades 9 – 12)

Los Angeles Area Only

JA Finance Park is Junior Achievement’s capstone program for personal financial planning and career exploration. The JA Finance Park experience begins with teacher-led curriculum, culminating in a visit to JA Finance Park, where students participate in a reality-based decision-making simulation addressing aspects of individual and family budgeting, including housing, transportation, food, utilities, healthcare, philanthropy, and banking. Learning Objectives: Future Planning, Income, Taxes, Careers, Saving, Investment, Risk Management, Benefits, Opportunity Cost, Risk, Interest, Banking, Credit and Debit, Credit Score and Reports, Debt, Loans, Payment Methods, Identity Theft, Budgeting, Needs and Wants

JA Finance Park – Entry-Level Overview

JA Its My Job! (Grades 9-12)

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 It’s My Job Overview 

JA Career Speaker Series (Grades 9-12)

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. Key Concepts: Soft skills – Resume building tips – Interview skills – Workplace communications skills – Career opportunities

JA Career Speaker Series Overview 

JA Personal Finance (Grades 9-12)

Students experience the interrelationship between today’s financial decisions and future financial freedom. They learn about money-management strategies, including earning, employment and income, budgeting, savings, credit and debt, consumer protection, smart shopping, risk management, investing, credit card usage, debt management, and net worth

JA Personal Finance Overview 

JA Job Shadow (Grades 9-12)

In collaboration with leading industry and education partners, we create in-person and virtual events for students to learn more about Southern California’s high-priority career sectors and leading industry companies. Pre/post event classroom lessons are available.

JA Job Shadow Overview 

JA Career Exploration Fair – OC

A Career Exploration Fair® is an event where students learn about a range of career options across multiple career clusters. Volunteers share information about their businesses and/or jobs, and students ask questions as the speakers or students rotate from station to station.

Student objectives vary based on grade level.

Following participation in the learning experience, students will be able to:

– Observe career speakers and the tools they use.
– Identify the variety of careers people have in the community.
– Express how jobs require specific interests and skills.
– Relate the impact of personal interests and abilities on career choices.
– Investigate a variety of careers and their associated skills.
– Understand education preparation, training, and personal qualities needed for a variety of careers.
– Examine how school skills apply to career paths.
– Explain the importance of staying in school and graduating high school.

This event is open to Orange County and Inland Empire area students.

JA Career Exploration Fair (OC) Overview

JA Inspire (Grades 11-12)

JA Inspire is more than a career fair: It brings together the business community and local schools and is designed to help launch teens and young adults into their future—postsecondary education and their careers. The program consists of three segments: (1) pre-event career-oriented sessions; (2) the JA Inspire event, and (3) a post-event reflection. The JA Inspire provides participants a powerful way to learn about real-world career opportunities and their local economy.

This is a multi-hour experience where participants interact with company representatives and participate in hands-on activities, often using equipment or tools used on the job.

Following participation in JA Inspire Advanced, participants will be able to:

• Gain insight into career clusters that interest them.
• Make connections with adults who have jobs in careers that interest them.
• Recognize traits of their local economy.
• Collect information about the education and training requirements to be successful in a job.
• Practice soft skills.

JA Inspire Overview 

JA Company Program (Grades 9-12)

JA Company Program empowers teens and young adults 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.

Students learn the practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business venture with subject matter expert volunteer guides. Throughout the process of building their own company, students collaborate, make crucial business decisions, communicate with multiple stakeholders, and develop entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a culminating pitch competition during the annual Junior Achievement Student Entrepreneurship Challenge (JASEC).

JA Company Program Overview