“This experience is absolutely incredible. The benefit of coming here is you get to explore your options and you get to find who you are. By finding out who you are, you can make decisions on what you want to do in life. I would say it is a 10 out of 10 experience.”
– Edgar Garcia, JA Student
The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator is an interactive and responsive career exploration experience that inspires students to develop a plan to pursue a meaningful career and future.
This exciting experience helps students realize their strengths and interests and how they align with a variety of career choices. Students are motivated by insights from emerging entrepreneurs and stories of Colorado visionaries, tailored to each student’s interests and aptitudes. Volunteers guide students through each of the interactives and share their own real-life experiences to encourage them to think deeply about their future.
JA provides comprehensive learning resources for in-class lessons before and after students’ visit to the Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator. Curriculum is customized to each student’s experience, guiding them through a process to identify, research, refine, and pursue their goals.
The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator includes lessons before and after the visit. The lessons are educator-led and required to be completed to ensure a meaningful experience for students. All materials are provided by Junior Achievement.
The JA Dream Accelerator is located in the Denver Tech Center. The simulation is also available as a mobile experience.
Student Learning Objectives
- Discover how their goals, skills and interests align with career opportunities
- Explore how their financial goals coincide with career and lifestyle choices
- Understand the value of an entrepreneurial mindset
- Improve their applied knowledge of capitalism and free enterprise
- Leverage additional tools and resources to develop and pursue future education and career goals
Students will be able to:
- Use the career interest inventory to identify three career paths that match their strengths and interests
- Identify at least one local or regional employer in a selected field
- Reflect on how personal interests and lifestyle goals influence career choices
- Recognize and reflect on personal character traits that support navigating career exploration and future goals
Students will participate in six interactive experiences:
- Introductory Film – Inspires students to be excited about the legacy of entrepreneurship in Colorado and their role in continuing that legacy through their own future
- Picture Your Strengths – Gain perspective on how their personal qualities, strengths, and aspirations can provide the foundation for passion-driven careers
- Visionaries – Discover how the careers of local visionaries match their own interests
- Reality Check – Understand the costs that are associated with their anticipated adult lifestyle
- Entrepreneurial Mindset – Educates students on the key attributes of the entrepreneurial spirit
- Visualization – Illustrated mural engages students to consider their future goals and greatest hope
Students will be able to:
- Reflect on insights from the JA Dream Accelerator experience to connect strengths, interests, and character traits to lifestyle goals and future career paths
- Create and share a future plan that links goals with character growth and commitment to community in a meaningful and creative way
Visit Details
- Up to 40 students can experience this discovery center per session
- Sessions last 1.5 hours, and educators can choose from two different time options
- Students will rotate through six experiences
- Located inside the JA Free Enterprise Center (6500 Greenwood Plaza Blvd.)
Take a Virtual Tour
The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator Supports the Following:
- Analyze the impact of education, skill development, and cost of living factors related to income
- Set goals and monitor progress on attaining goals for future success
- Demonstrate awareness of how dreams and interests translate into career pathways at local, regional, national, and global areas
- The ability to plan and set realistic goals can lead to a sense of well-being and positive mental health
- What is your greatest hope for next year/your future?
- What colleges/ careers/ military branches have you researched and how might this research support you in the future?
- What are your future goals and what steps do you need to take in order to accomplish these?
Program Impact
Thank You to our JA Dream Accelerator Supporters
$100,000+
Adolph Coors Foundation
Anonymous
Daniels Fund
Delta Air Lines
Morgridge Family Foundation
$50,000+
Colorado Association of REALTORS Foundation
Denver Broncos Football Club
Up to $30,000
Climax Molybdenum
John P. Ellbogen Foundation
KPMG
Mayer-Phillips Foundation
Moneta Charitable Foundation
OtterCares Foundation
Target
Tointon Family Foundation
Weld Trust
Wells Fargo
