Junior Achievement of Arizona

K-12 In-Class programs: Through JA's proven in-classroom programs, JAAZ empowered 78,938 students, K-12, in 145 schools to own their future success. Our hands-on, age-appropriate programs were delivered by 2,994 unique corporate and community volunteer mentors. Volunteers donated $2,441,682 in time to deliver our in-classroom programs. This volunteer donation is not reflected in the expenses of Part IX but is noted here to reflect the efficiencies gained through our volunteer delivery model. Including the value of all program volunteers in our expenses increases our program expense ratio to 82% reflecting the efficiency gained by leveraging the expertise of these volunteers. Our traditional in-classroom programs give students important knowledge and skills around financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship and preparing them to think critically. Our survey shows that 95% of educators would recommend the programs to fellow educators. Furthermore, elementary school students who receive Junior Achievement programs demonstrate significantly higher (27% higher) critical thinking and problem-solving skills than their counterparts.

4c. JA Inspire is JAAZ's premier career exploration and readiness program that allows students, 5th grade through post-secondary, to explore careers of the future. This year, 68,820 students from 338 schools and community partners participated in the innovative program. JA Inspire is a dynamic experience where learners participate in guided or self-led career readiness and exploration curriculum, a career inventory, badging experience and engage with Arizona employers across all industries/career clusters through nine virtual career exhibit halls. The activities teach students to develop a career plan, interviewing techniques, important soft skills, and more. These lessons can be implemented in a variety of ways to better fit the needs of educators and students, aligning to many of the major education competency standards and career readiness credentials. This program provides valuable context for career and educational pathway planning and critical work readiness skills. Student survey results showed 89% found a career that matches their skills and interests, 72% learned about a new career pathway or more about one they were interested in, 62% would recommend JA Inspire to a friend: and students demonstrated a 39% knowledge gain post-participation.

JA BizTown program: JAAZ's JA BizTown is an experiential program that requires 4-6th grade students to participate in 14-20 hours of classroom instruction where they work together to create business plans, calculate operating costs, design a marketing campaign, apply for jobs, vote for city officials, and explore careers. Upon completion of the program, students who participate in JA BizTown experience an overall 23% percent knowledge gain (on average) in financial literacy and work readiness skills. Of the educators whose students participated in JA BizTown, 97% indicate that they would recommend the JA BizTown program to fellow teachers. This year, 18,629 students from 163 schools participated in the JA BizTown program. JAAZ partnered with 473 business, and 3,277 parent and teacher volunteers who delivered the JA BizTown program, donating $1,159,398 in their time. Including the value of all program volunteers in our expenses increases our program expense ratio to 82% reflecting the efficiency gained by leveraging the expertise of these volunteers.

A Finance Park program: Our second experiential program for students is JA Finance Park, which requires middle and high school students to participate in 14-20 hours of classroom instruction where they learn important personal money management skills. They then apply those newly acquired skills in a virtual simulation where they are given a fictional life scenario and are required to create and maintain a balanced personal budget. This year, 3,615 students from 37 schools received the JA Finance Park curriculum and were empowered to manage their money and navigate financial complexities in their future. Upon completion of the program, JA Finance Park students showed a 37% percent financial literacy knowledge gain. JAAZ partnered with 373 business, parent and teacher volunteers who delivered the JA Finance Park program, donating $103,430 of their time and mileage. Including the value of all program volunteers in our expenses increases our program expense ratio to 82% reflecting the efficiency gained by leveraging the expertise of these volunteers.