Our In-Class Programs

Kindergarten: Ourselves®
Our Kindergarten program uses hands-on activities and compelling stories read aloud by the volunteer to demonstrate helping, working, earning, and saving.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

1st Grade: Our Families®
Our First Grade program emphasizes the roles people play in the local economy and engages students with activities about needs, wants, jobs, tools, skills, and interdependence.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

2nd Grade: Our Community®
Our Second Grade program explores the interdependent roles of workers in a community, the work they perform, and how communities work.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

3rd Grade: Our City®
Our Third Grade program studies careers, the skills people need to work in specific feilds, and how businesses contribute to a city.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

4th Grade: Our Region®
Our Fourth Grade program introduces the relationship between the natural, human, and capital resources found in different regions and explores regional businesses that produce good and services for consumers.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

5th Grade: Our Nation®
Our Fifth Grade program examines how businesses operate in the United States.  Students role-play business ownership, interview for jobs, and lear different methods of production while exploring various economic issues that affect business.  Five required, volunteer-led sessions.

6th, 7th or 8th Grade: JA America Works®
America Works provides students with examples of hour business and entrepreneurship affected the economic development of the United States during the 19th century. Six required, volunteer-led sessions.

6th, 7th or 8th Grade: JA Economics for Success
Economics for Success explores personal finance and students' education and career options based on their skills, interest, and values; also demonstrates the economic benefits of staying in school. Six required, volunteer-led sessions.

6th, 7th or 8th Grade: JA Global Marketplace
Global Marketplace provides practical information about the global economy and its effect on students' lives. Six required, volunteer-led sessions.

High School: JA Banks in Action®
Banks in Action teaches high school students the principles of the banking industry and exploses them to the callenges of successfully operating a bank in a competitive environment.  Eight required, volunteer-led sessions. 

High School: JA Economics®
Economics examines the fundamental concepts of micro-, macro-, and international economics.  Eight required, volunteer-led sessions.

High School: JA Success Skills®
Success Skills develops students' interpersonal effectiveness, and problem-solving skills

Our entreprenuership, financial literacy, and workforce-readieness programs can be found in over 100 area classrooms throughout Western New York. We also service numerous after school sites, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs and the YMCA of Greater Buffalo. 

Thanks to the dedication of over 500 volunteers, over 13,000 students will reap the benefits of being a part of a Junior Achievement classroom during the 2007-2008 school year.  Volunteers share their real world experiences with their students, making economic concepts relevant, and fueling an entrepreneurial spirit.

JA provides all of the training, materials, and support necessary to ensure a positive experience for volunteers and students alike.  Our materials include curriculum geared specifically towards elementary, middle, and high school students. Our cirriculum is composed by a team of educators who are familliar with and uphold New York State Learning Standards.