JA Youth Trailblazers Camp is an engaging, hands-on experience that helps middle school students develop an understanding of basic business principles and the world of work ahead. They will learn how to think like an entrepreneur, develop an understanding of the world of work, and how to make wise financial decisions to achieve the future they want for themselves and their families.
Who: Middle school students who were in grades 6 to 8 during the 2023/24 school year. Students entering 9th grade in the 2024/25 school year are welcome. Students going into 6th grade in the 2024/25 school year are not eligible to participate this year.
Where: The JA Free Enterprise Center located at 6500 Greenwood Plaza Blvd; Greenwood Village, CO 80111
When: July 8 to 12, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How? $25 registration + $250 program fee; Need-based scholarships offered to cover the program fee. Snacks and drinks are included in the program fee; students will bring their own lunch on Monday-Thursday; a pizza lunch will be provided on Friday.
Contact: SummerCamp@JARockyMountain.org.
Also check out our other summer camps: JA Dream Accelerator Experience and Business Bound.
During the week students will have the opportunity to work independently and in teams to discover what entrepreneurship is, what a career as an entrepreneur looks like, and how build a strong financial foundation. Below are highlights for each day of the week. A detailed schedule will be sent to registered students in June.
Day One: Launchpad – Campers use this first day to get to know who they will be working with throughout the week. The JA staff has designed fun, interactive, challenging, and team-oriented activities for everyone to get to know one another and introduce financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship topics that will be covered throughout the week.
Day Two: Innovation and Branding – Students are challenged to develop a new flavor concept of Oogie’s Gourmet Popcorn for a specific target audience: their peers. The students work collaboratively in groups to develop their idea into a proposal, which will be presented on Friday.
Day Three: Career Compass – Students are introduced to practical information about preparing for the working world while still in middle school. Students will have the opportunity to meet JA volunteers from a wide range of companies and careers. Students will also get to experience interactives within the JA Dream Accelerator to gain perspective on how their personal qualities, strengths, and aspirations can provide the foundation for passion-driven careers!
Day Four: Financial Literacy Lab – Students build a foundation for making intelligent and lifelong personal financial decisions through a hands-on, realistic simulation experience.
Day Five: Innovation Showcase – Students wrap up the week by presenting the popcorn flavor that they developed for Oogie’s Snacks. They reflect on the career connections they made throughout the week and test their knowledge through a gameshow competition!
