“To empower young people to own their economic success.” When Candace Lee, financial planning analyst at JoycePayne Partners, learned that this was the mission of Junior Achievement, she felt compelled to learn more about the program. “The mission of Junior Achievement is a stepping stone to the mission of our firm. I felt it was necessary that we give back some of our expertise to kids who may otherwise not get this education.”
Candace Lee, Van Nguyen, and Cindy Joyce recently participated in the Junior Achievement program. Each was assigned to a classroom to conduct a five to seven week class on Economic Success. Van Nguyen was assigned to a kindergarten class at an elementary school with a high level of at-risk children. Her course was entitled “JA Ourselves,” which told stories about helping, working, earning, and saving. Van enjoyed meeting with her kids. “It was good to see the children participating and becoming engaged in the topic. I definitely think they enjoyed their class time with me.”
Candace and Cindy were both assigned to area high schools that also had high percentages of at-risk children. Candace spent seven weeks covering the topic of Career Success. The course was meant to equip students with the knowledge required to get and keep jobs in high-growth industries. Cindy spent seven weeks teaching concepts such as supply and demand and inflation, in a course entitled “Exploring Economics.” She also taught students about the effect that governments and individuals have on the global economy. While both Candace and Cindy were a bit overwhelmed during their first sessions, they came to enjoy the challenge of engaging high school students on topics which, on the surface, did not seem very exciting.
“I am glad that I had the experience of Junior Achievement. I quickly came to realize that the concepts taught in the Junior Achievement program, while very important to real life, are not necessarily part of every day curriculum in the high school,” commented Cindy Joyce.
JoycePayne Partners will continue to pursue opportunities with JA as well as other avenues that further similar missions.