Junior Achievement was founded in 1919 by three prominent leaders of America at the time; Theodore Vail the president of American Telephone & Telegraph, Horace Moses the president of Strathmore Paper Co., and Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts. Together, they created an after-school program for high school students to solve a problem by launching a new business venture to try to capture their entrepreneurial drive now known as the JA Company Program. The organization then created programs to teach middle grades with Project Business in 1975 and has since grown to teach children in every grade as early as kindergarten. They reach all 50 states with 109 offices in total. The Junior Achievement of Greater Hampton Roads, created in 1966, fosters programs that reach 7,855 students each year. This year we decided to get involved with their efforts!
This past week we went to Saint Gregory the Great Catholic School in partnership with JA to teach first graders about their community and how businesses help to solve problems and make lives better! We had a ton of fun and we think you would too! If you are interested in volunteering for future programs, fill out an application on their website!