Our Purpose:

Junior Achievement educates and inspires young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives.

Our Mission:

To reach every single student in central Iowa with business and economic education.

Junior Achievement programs develop...

• the desire in young people to stay in school and appreciate lifelong learning

• positive attitudes toward work and contributing to a diverse society

• business/education partnerships that create a bridge between classrooms and the workplace

• Junior Achievement strives to educate and prepare the young people who will become our future workforce, and we rely upon the local community for funding and volunteer support.

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Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, Inc., is a local operation of Junior Achievement, Inc., the oldest, largest and fastest-growing business and economic not-for-profit education organization in the world. Junior Achievement Inc. was founded in 1919 by Theodore Vail, president of American Telephone & Telegraph; Horace Moses, president of Strathmore Paper Co. and Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts. Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, Inc., received its charter in 1955, and is active in 29 central Iowa counties, ranging from the Minnesota to the Missouri border. Junior Achievement’s headquarters are located in the W.A. Krause Center for Entrepreneurial Education in Des Moines. During the 2006-07 school year alone, more than 1,300 volunteers will give their time to bring Junior Achievement into schools to touch the lives of more than 15,000 students. During the 2007-08 school year, more than 16,000 central Iowa students will participate in Junior Achievement programs.

Junior Achievement of Central Iowa continues to reach 10% of the students in their market area compared to the national average of 7%.

Junior Achievement’s first program, The Company Program, was offered to high school students on an after-school basis. In 1975, the organization entered the classroom with the introduction of a middle grades program. In the past 20 years, Junior Achievement programs gradually expanded to encompass an ever-widening student population, including elementary school students.

What we do...

Junior Achievement supplies business and economic education curricula to students in grades kindergarten through twelfth. These program materials, including teacher manuals, student workbooks, audio-visuals, activities and software, are provided free to participating schools. Junior Achievement operates three main programs: the Elementary School Program; Middle Grades Program; and High School Economics, as well as a newly implemented high school program called GLOBE (Global Learning of the Business Enterprise) and BASE (Building Achievement through Sports and Entertainment), a program designed to teach 9th and 10th grade students the economics behind the world of sports and entertainment.

How we help young people...

Junior Achievement’s easy-to-use curriculum comes alive when volunteers from the business community use Junior Achievement materials to lead students through innovative lesson plans. These volunteer classroom consultants take time out of their workday once each week for a period of 5 to 8 weeks to visit area schools. Classroom consultants act as invaluable role models to students, sharing professional life experiences and helping students understand how their education directly affects their employability.

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