Based on a 2024 survey of 1,002 JA Alumni ages 22-43
As high school students begin to position themselves for their future, there are many unanswered questions about what lies ahead. Junior Achievement’s high school programs help students make informed, intelligent decisions about the future, and fosters skills that will be highly useful in the business world. All programs are offered at no cost to schools.
Experiential Programs
Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator
The Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator is an interactive and responsive career exploration experience that inspires high school students to develop a plan to pursue a meaningful career and future.
JA provides comprehensive learning resources for in-class lessons before and after students’ visit to the Daniels Fund JA Dream Accelerator.
“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
JA Finance Park, presented by Transamerica
JA Finance Park is Junior Achievement’s experiential program for personal financial planning and career exploration. At the culmination of this teacher-led program, students visit JA Finance Park, a realistic on-site or virtual community, to put into practice what they’ve learned by developing and committing to a personal budget.
“I take my students to JA Finance Park because it’s a fun, immersive experience that gives my students the opportunity to practice crucial life skills like budgeting, thinking about savings, and planning investments in a supportive environment. The work my students do at JA Finance Park seems to “sink in” far better than any of the financial literacy lessons I’ve ever taught on my own in my classroom.”
-Hannah Drager, Teacher
JA High School Heroes
JA High School Heroes provides leadership development opportunities to high school students who deliver JA programs in elementary schools.
JA Stock Market Challenge™
The culmination of the JA Take Stock in Your Future lessons, students are immersed in a high-tech and fast-paced atmosphere in which they are challenged to build the largest stock portfolio as a team. Each 80 seconds in real life represent a full day of trading, adding to the excitement and urgency. Students get to practice what they learned about stocks, diversification, long-term investing, and the impact of world events on the stock market.
“This event teaches students that if you stick with something and you’re passionate and dedicated, the rewards will follow. You have a team and you aren’t in it alone. They learn that if they stick together and rely on their synergy, they’re going to come out as winners whether they get a trophy or not.”
– Cassidy Montoya, Centennial High School
Classroom Programs
JA Be Entrepreneurial®: Creative Problem Solving
A modular program that challenges students to start their own entrepreneurial ventures while still in high school and learn about the mindset and skills needed for success from real world entrepreneurs. Participating students may elect to enter JA USA’s Social Innovation Challenge in March for a chance at national recognition.
“JA Be Entrepreneurial provides students with real world knowledge and experiences of entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs that came into my classroom worked with students on how to write a business plan, how to pitch the plan to potential investors, and how to obtain funding. The entrepreneurs also provided students with guidance and feedback during the process of writing their business plans. JA Be Entrepreneurial program provides students with real and hands-on learning.” -Lori Valdez,
Mountain Range High School
JA Be Entrepreneurial®: Rapid Business Planning
A modular program that challenges students to start their own entrepreneurial ventures while still in high school and learn about the mindset and skills needed for success from real world entrepreneurs. In the Rapid Business Planning module, students learn about Lean Canvas, the strategic management template for developing business models. The business model canvas is an easy-to-understand, one-page business plan that is the foundation for fleshing out a business idea. Participating students may elect to enter JA USA’s Social Innovation Challenge in March for a chance at national recognition.
JA Be Entrepreneurial®: Think Like an Entrepreneur
A modular program that challenges students to start their own entrepreneurial ventures while still in high school and learn about the mindset and skills needed for success from real world entrepreneurs. In the Think Like an Entrepreneur module, students develop a mindset that enables opportunity identification, innovation, value creation, and problem solving. They learn the principles, strategies, and skills through the experiences of others and apply them to their own lives. Participating students may elect to enter JA USA’s Social Innovation Challenge in March for a chance at national recognition.
JA Career Speaker Series
JA Career Speaker Series gives students the opportunities to learn about an industry and company first-hand from business professionals or entrepreneurs.
JA Explore Your Path
JA Explore Your Path is designed to spark the interest of 9th and
10th grade students in careers and educational and employment
opportunities. During this program, students will work to explore
career paths and things to consider as they enter the workforce.
JA Personal Success
Recommended for 11th and 12th grades. JA Personal Success prepares students for the job market by helping them to develop the personal success skills that will help them land and keep a job.
“It’s so important for the kids to see that their learning translates to real life. Tourism in Wyoming is one of the industries that continues to make money even when some of the other industries have a little bit of a downturn, but it can only succeed if we have a workforce, so we have to get people excited to come into the industry.” -Penny Fletcher, Little America Human Resources Manager
JA Take Stock in Your Future™
JA Take Stock in Your Future introduces high school students to the fundamentals of stocks, the impact of world events on the stock market, long-term investing, and how investors make investment decisions and diversify their portfolios. This program may be concluded with the JA Stock Market Challenge.
JA Titan®
In an online simulation, students compete as CEOs in the phone industry, experiencing firsthand how an organization evaluates alternatives, makes decisions, analyzes the outcomes of those decisions, and then strategizes what to do next. As students
make financial decisions about production, marketing, research and development (R&D), and corporate social responsibility (CSR), they begin to see how every choice made in an organization relates to its future success.
“I can’t tell you how effective it is to have a business professional come into the classroom and share their experiences with the students while applying the Junior Achievement Titan curriculum. Furthermore, the simulation keeps the students’ attention and creates a fun learning environment. Applying the real world to our business and marketing classes is a big goal of vocational education so that students are prepared for the business world.”
– Carrie Medlock, Legacy High School
