Warm Holiday Wishes from JA

As the holidays near, we would like to take the time to thank all of our volunteers, teachers, and supporters for another wonderful year here at JA! We wouldn't be an organization without all of you!

The JA office will be closed from December 24th - January 4th. We hope you and your families have a very happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you in 2010!

Sincerely,

The JA Staff - Randal, Lisa, Suzane, Laura, Jenny, Kori and Leslie

Volunteers- Don't Forget!!

The final day of the fall semester is Friday, December 18th, so there is only a week and half left in the semester to finish up your classes. After you have completed the program, please log on to http://www.jafortworth.org/ to fill out a Class Completion Form! The link to the form is on the left side of the page.

If you are unable to complete the form online please email the following information to karmstrong@jafortworth.org:

Name:

School:

Grade:

Teacher:

Total Lessons Completed:

Total Number of Students:

Thank you for giving your time to Junior Achievement!

Turkey Time!

We at JA would like to give thanks for having the privilege to work with so many amazing teachers, volunteers, and community leaders. It is through their hard work and sacrifices that we are able to advance the JA mission!

Junior Achievement would like to wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

JA President on Fox Business!

Click here to see JA Worldwide President, Sean Rush, speak on Fox Business about helping children gain knowledge of business, the economy and financial literacy through volunteering!

Online Forms are Working!

Hey Volunteers!

The First Class Visit and Class Completion Forms are now working! To submit your form, please go to http://www.jafortworth.org/ and click on the appropriate link under the Volunteer Forms section (located on the left side of the Home page).

Please contact us if you have questions at jsenter@jafortworth.org.

First Annual Junior Achievement Breakfast

The first annual JA Breakfast will be held at the Fort Worth Club this Thursday, November 12^th. Junior Achievement’s Vice President of Development, Leslie Flanery, along with our board members, have worked hard to develop the pilot event. With over 200 expected attendees and a full one-hour program including local JA students and esteemed speakers – we are looking forward to a successful event!

It's November!

Hey volunteers - time is flyin by! Below are a few reminders as we enter the holiday season:

Many school districts will have the entire week of November 23rd off for Thanksgiving. If this is the case, you will need to skip this week and pick up where you left off the week of November 30th with your class.

It's a good idea to try to get your class completed by Friday, December 18th, which is the last day most schools are in session before the winter break. However, the Fall semester does carry over into January. If you find that you will need to complete your class in January, please start discussing this with your teacher now to get those dates on the calendar.

Please contact us at any time if you have questions about your class. Thank you so much for volunteering this Fall!

Attention Volunteers!

Our First Class Visit and Class Completion Forms are currently being updated. Please email us to let us know you have begun or (finished, if you have already) your class. We will let you know as soon as the forms are completed - we apologize for any inconvenience.

Questions? Please contact Jenny at jsenter@jafortworth.org.

Thank you for your participation and support of Junior Achievement!

Steve Jobs Bigger Than Oprah??

Well...that's what teens surveyed in the 2009 "Teens and Entrepreneurship" Survey say. This is the seventh year that Junior Achievement has conducted the "Teens and Entrepreneurship" poll, which attempts to gauge teens’ attitudes around business ownership. The survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation from August 20-24, 2009, and surveyed 1,000 U.S. teens ages 12-17 by telephone.

Click this link to check out the results - you may be surprised! http://www.ja.org/files/polls/Teens-Entrepreneurship-Part-2.pdf

Calling All Volunteers!

With the fall semester in full swing, we are currently placing volunteers in classrooms throughout Tarrant, Parker, Johnson and Wise counties. We still have many opportunities available in our local elementary, middle and high schools. Listed below are the schools in which we have classrooms in need of a volunteer:

Available Elementary Classes:

Cannon Elementary (Grapevine Colleyville ISD)

Tarver-Rendon Elementary (Mansfield ISD)

Westcliff Elementary (Fort Worth ISD)

Washington Heights (Fort Worth ISD)

Webb Elementary (Arlington ISD)

Northbrook (Eagle Mountain/Saginaw ISD)

We have middle school classes available in several Fort Worth schools.

We have high school classes available in classrooms just west of Texas Motor Speedway.

Please help us impact as many students as possible in North Texas during the 2009-2010 school year! For more information please contact Laura Clingman at Lclingman@jafortworth.org.

Penn State Welcomes Junior Achievement!

Randal Mays, President of JA of the Chisholm Trail, spent the week of September 14th at the Penn State Executive Education Center participating in Strategic Leadership in JA training. Randal and the other twenty participants were hand-selected by JA’s headquarters as leaders who will shape the future of the organization.

A major initiative of JA is to maintain its relevancy and cutting edge position in an ever changing education and social environment. The training for all the participants was paid for through a grant from the American Express Foundation.

NEW NATIONAL POLL: MORE THAN NINE-IN-TEN U.S. TEENS SAY ENTREPRENEURSHIP SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL

More than half surveyed would like to start their own businesses

Colorado Springs, Colo. — The results of a new national poll released today by Junior Achievement indicate that an overwhelming majority of U.S. teens-92 percent of those surveyed-believe that entrepreneurial skills should be taught in college or earlier. The "Junior Achievement Teens and Entrepreneurship Poll" defined entrepreneurial skills as "taking the initiative and assuming risk to create value for the company or business, either as an owner of your own business or in your place of work."

To read this entire article, please visit:

http://www.ja.org/about/releases/about_newsitem546.asp

Golf Marathon - 100 Hole Shoot Out

The second-annual 100 Hole Shoot Out will be held on Monday, October 26, 2009 at Shady Valley Golf Club. Each golfer sets out to play 100 holes of golf in one day! On course games and contests will add to the challenge. The goal is for each golfer to raise a minimum of $1,200 from family, friends and business associates. All golfers receive Nike golf apparel and other merchandise just for participating! Golfers raising $2,500 or more will receive a complimentary playing spot in JA's 'premier' Trinity Invitational Golf Tournament in May 2010. Are you up for the Challenge? Do you think you can play 100 holes of golf in one day??? Contact Lisa Cox for more information or sign up online.

Back to School Time!

Hey volunteers! School is back in session (as we are sure you already know). That means it's time to get Junior Achievement programs up and running again. If you are interested in participating in JA this year, please let us know. We have many K-12 opportunities and you can choose the class you want to volunteer in.

For more information, please contact Jenny Senter at jsenter@jafortworth.org. We are looking forward to another great school year!

JA Welcomes Laura Clingman!

Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail has a new face! Laura Clingman started at JA on August 3rd as an Education Manager and will be in charge of elementary classes. Laura graduated from TCU in the Spring of 2009 with a BS in Advertising and Public Relations and a Spanish and Latin American studies minor. Welcome to the team Laura!

Under the Bigtop! JA hosts 2009 Summer Fun Bowl

Junior Achievement hosted the 2009 Summer Fun Bowl on Saturday, August 15th. This year over 750 bowlers participated in the event to raise money for JA! Many businesses across Tarrant county dressed up in their best circus gear and bowled "Under the Big Top."

A big thank you to everyone who participated to make this year's event a success! We appreciate you sharing your Saturday to help raise money to purchase JA program materials to help students in our area succeed.

To view pictures from the event, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/jjjsenter/2009SummerFunBowl?feat=directlink

Attention volunteers!! School is almost out!

The final day of school (for most districts) is Friday, June 5th, so everyone should be wrapping up their classes. Please don't forget to submit your Class Completion Form! To do this, go to http://www.jafortworth.org/ and click the "Class Completion Form" link on the left side of the page.

If you cannot access this form, please email the following information to us at jsenter@jafortworth.org:

Name:

School:

Teacher:

Total Lessons Completed:

Total Students:

Thank you so much for your participation in Junior Achievement and have a great summer!!!

New National Poll: Teens Likely To Be Out Of Work This Summer

Only 22 percent had a job last summer, yet 74 percent hope to work this summer.

Colorado Springs, Colo. – According to a new national poll released today by Junior Achievement and Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed (74 percent) either have or hope to get a summer job this year, despite the fact that fewer than one-in-four (22 percent) reported that they had a summer job last year. Teens could be pounding the pavement with little hope of finding summer employment-- last summer's job market was the most challenging since the Great Depression, according to a report from Northeastern University.

To read this entire news release, please visit: http://www.ja.org/about/releases/about_newsitem535.asp

Roanoke Elementary's own Debbie Merki named Principal of the Year!

A HUGE congratulations goes out to Debbie Merki, principal at Roanoke Elementary, for being awarded the Communities in Schools Principal of the Year! Roanoke Elementary has had Junior Achievement programs for over 7 years in their Kindergarten - 5th grade classes. Sabre-Holdings provides volunteers to teach the JA program at Roanoke, many of which return each and every year.

A well-deserving award!! To view the official article, go to http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=4245

Job Shadow Day a "Huge Success!"

On Thursday, April 9th, approximately 130 students from Colleyville, Cross Timbers and Heritage Middle Schools participated in Job Shadow Day. 43 business in Tarrant County hosted these students and showed them an up-close look at the world of work. Job Shadow invites students to see firsthand how the skills learned in school relate to the workplace.

Cross Timbers Middle School teacher Kate Burkhart said, "The day was a huge success!" Junior Achievement has teamed up with these schools for over 10 years now to provide 7th graders with the Job Shadow opportunity. Thank you to all of the businesses and hosts who dedicated their time to prepare our future workforce!

Pictured above with Judge Phil Sorrells from Tarrant County Criminal Court #10 is Farzan Surani, Conor Shepard and Sam Roberts from Cross Timbers Middle School. Judge Sorrells has participated in the Job Shadow program for the past 4 years.

Dallas Cowboy, Pat McQuistan visits JA Class!

Mrs. Helms' 2nd grade class at Woodland Springs Elementary had a special visitor during one of their JA lessons this Spring! Pat McQuistan, Offensive Tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, assisted long time JA volunteer, Gregg Zody from BNSF Railway, with the "Our Community" program.

A HUGE thank you to Gregg for making this happen and to Pat for taking time out of his schedule to put some big smiles on some little faces!

Spring is in full swing!

It's hard to believe May is just around the corner! We cannot thank everyone enough for participating in Junior Achievement this year. Together we are helping to build a stronger community.

Friendly Reminder for Volunteers

Don't forget to submit your Class Completion Form at www.jafortworth.org. If you cannot access this form, please contact Jenny at jhobson@jafortworth.org

We would love to hear how your class is going! Please send us your stories and comments!

Who's Teaching Your Kids About Managing Money?

Fifty-six percent of teens believe the best source of useful information about financial matters is their parents or guardians. However, many parents hesitate to discuss money management with their children - they may feel awkward talking about money or are embarrassed about their own financial missteps.

Junior Achievement and The Allstate Foundation have created a new series of free, downloadable teaching tools to help parents talk to their children about smart money management.

Click here to view and download all 12 lessons!