August 11, 2025 • 26 mins
Junior Achievement of Arizona provides free, standards-aligned curriculum to help students develop skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. Their programs are designed to make the lives of educators easier by offering flexible implementation options and bringing business professionals into classrooms to provide real-world context.
• Junior Achievement serves 180,000 learners across Arizona in approximately 400 schools, from kindergarten through post-secondary education
• Programs align with existing educational standards and can be delivered in various formats, from single-day experiences to semester-long curricula
• JA BizTown in Tempe allows students to run a simulated town economy for a day, including electing officials and managing businesses
• Critical thinking underpins all JA programs, helping students recognize assumptions and biases while developing analytical skills
• Research shows JA alumni earn more, report higher job satisfaction, and are more likely to start successful businesses
• New 3DE model integrates business case challenges directly into core subjects like math, science, and social studies
• Educators can learn more about programs and find solutions for their specific classroom needs at JAAZ.org
Visit JAAZ.org to explore program options filtered by grade level and learning environment, or learn about the new 3DE model at 3DESchools.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
welcome back to the Arizona civics podcast.
I love meeting other civiceducators in the state of
Arizona and I got to meet Annefrom junior achievement and
we've had like three or fourconversations.
I feel like at this point, um,we have a lot, a lot in common
as parents, but also you workwith junior achievement, which I
(00:23):
knew Junior Achievement when Itaught, but things have kind of
changed.
So before we even get started,Anne, can you introduce yourself
and let us know what JuniorAchievement is?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
I'm Annie Landers, the ChiefOperating Officer of Junior
Achievement of Arizona.
We're a nonprofit that existsto prepare learners of really
all ages to succeed in work andlife, and along with that comes
an understanding of futurecareers in the economy, comes
knowing how to manage your money, knowing how to be a good
(00:56):
citizen and a contributingmember of society.
So all the things that reallylead to that successful path is
kind of where our programs arefocused.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
That is wonderful.
So what does Junior Achievementdo for Arizona educators?
Like what is kind of thatmission and vision of Junior
Achievement.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, we partner with about 180,000 learners across
the state.
We give them those skills andwe do that primarily through
partnership with educators inabout 400 schools, and those
learners are ages kindergartenthrough adulthood.
So really, if you're aneducator who's looking in this
space and you are looking forsome solutions, it's highly
(01:39):
likely we have something that'sa fit for you.
We provide a lot of content andcurriculum and that is all free
to educators and so it could bedelivered by the teachers
directly.
We can help place somevolunteers that have a similar
or specific background inclassroom settings.
It can be delivered all in asingle day as kind of like an
(02:00):
in-school field trip, or it canbe delivered once a week over
several weeks.
We have semester-longprogramming.
Really, it's almost choose yourown adventure.
We have a solution that canhelp satisfy what you're looking
for or what makes the mostsense for the learners that are
under your umbrella.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
That's awesome.
So who can partner with JuniorAchievement?
Like, does it have to be adistrict, does it have to be a
whole school?
Can it be a teacher?
And then, where does JuniorAchievement currently partner
with learners?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah.
So again, I hate to make itsound like we serve the world,
but really we do.
We have district-widepartnerships, so any district
staff or admin that isinterested.
We also have a lot of teacherswho have their unique focus
under their specific studentsand their specific content area
(02:53):
or grade level and we partnerwith them on an individual basis
.
We also partner with a lot ofnon-traditional educators,
homeschool groups or groups thatare involved, with those that
are in foster care.
We partner with students whoare under state mandated
education or perhaps justinvolved.
There's all kinds of differenttypes of learners that we and
(03:15):
educators who are reallypassionate about those learners
that we partner withPost-secondary also learners who
are teaching in non-traditionalenvironments, even like library
programs and things along thoselines.
Again, we really try to createdifferent resources and content
and curriculum that will helpsatisfy whatever an educator is
(03:36):
looking for to meet thoselong-term needs of their
students.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So one of the things you know, I think, that
providers like you and I try todo is make educators' lives
easier.
We don't want programs oranything to be one more thing.
We want it to be something thatenriches their students while
making educators' jobs easier.
So how does Junior Achievementsprograms make educators' lives
easier?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
year.
Yeah, I'm so glad you asked that.
The way we kind of talk aboutwhat we do is almost as a
solution provider, and reallyit's sometimes it's a thought
partnership, and so maybe ittakes an initial conversation
about what, what are the needs,what are the solutions or the
challenges you're facing and howmight we help meet those needs.
And so oftentimes it looks likeour standards aligned free
curriculum, content andcurriculum.
(04:26):
So imagine you give us, you'rereaching a group of third
graders and we say here's an offthe shelf proven programming
that has lesson plans anddirection, or or if, and all the
materials, I should say to allthe student materials.
But if we hear that you wouldprefer to have business
community come in and deliver,that we'll help with that as
(04:48):
well.
And so our goal is not to say,hey, now you have new things
that you have to tackle.
There's, there's new standardsthat roll out, or there's
refined standards or there'sthis is just an extra
supplemental thing.
No, the reality is we like tomake sure that our program
aligns to everything you alreadyhave to do and help check those
(05:08):
boxes and do it in a way wherethe students are excited and
engaged and it's tactile andit's energetic and it helps the
students see what our educatorsare teaching and the relevancy
of that to the real worldconnection for them one day.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Hi, I love that you talked about business leaders,
because I think that havingpeople in your classroom with
different types of experiencereally is what gets your kids
excited, right?
You're able to kind of open thedoor and introduce them to
people within the community, butalso introduce the community to
your classroom, which thosepartnerships are so important.
Yeah, so you talked about likethird grade, right?
(05:48):
One of the things that we atthe Arizona Civics Podcast want
to make sure is we're not just apodcast for high school social
studies teachers, right?
I think a lot of times peoplehear the term civics and they
think a standalone course, andwe believe that civics belongs
everywhere, right?
Even the little kids, even thebig kids, even post-secondary.
(06:09):
So what ages and grades doesJunior Achievement have program?
You've kind of alluded to this,but I want to make sure any
listeners really understand that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, so we are passionate equal, you know,
equally in meeting that passionthere.
We're passionate about the factthat learners are at different
stages in their understanding ofall these concepts, and so we
have programs that are forstudents age kindergarten
through post-secondary.
The post-secondary is going tobe more curated, based on what's
(06:40):
being accomplished throughtheir learning environment.
But let me give you an exampleIn second grade, when you talked
about not just a high schoolcivics class, in second grade
our programs actually have thelearners go through and they do
a fun activity where theyevaluate a school project that
would help improve the campus orthe community, and then they
actually vote how they might puttheir tax dollars that they
(07:04):
earned on a previous activity,how they might apply that for
the aggregate gain of the schoolcommunity.
And they have some, you know,informal facilitated debate and
they actually vote and they talkthrough their votes and they
talk about the outcomes and theygo through the disappointment
if their choice wasn't selectedand the celebration, and there's
(07:25):
a whole bunch of elements to itthat really scale up to what it
looks like as an adult andbeing a contributing member.
So that's a whole bunch ofelements to it that really scale
up to what it looks like as anadult and being a contributing
member.
So that's just an example.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
That's like practicing right.
You're able to practice thisskill because I'm thinking like,
oh my gosh, like learning tovote right, and if my candidate
doesn't win, like how do I dealwith that disappointment?
Or talking about how I thinktax dollars in my community
should be spent.
I mean, starting that in secondgrade you're, they're just
practicing the skill in anenvironment that allows them to
(07:58):
practice and and to have theseconversations kind of without um
a grade.
If you will, is that?
I don't know if that's theright word.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Being measured by it, it's more so just yeah, I you
know.
One of the things we talk oftenabout, which I think goes hand
in hand with every civicsconversation you have, is the
ability to think critically, andthat's sometimes a buzzword,
but really it's a practice skillthat doesn't just automatically
happen for any learner at anyage.
You have to put it intopractice and you have to do it
(08:33):
in all different types of ways.
So that's a whole lot of whatour programs do, regardless of
the topic If they're, even whenthey're learning about how to
manage money or they'reexploring career paths, we're
actually giving them some ofthose foundational skills and
critical thinking that thenparody over to any conversation
you're having, whether it's aformal civics conversation or
(08:54):
just knowing how to navigatedivergent thinking.
As an adult, you're able todraw on some of those critical
skills that you learn, whetherthat's second grade or in high
school or as a young adult'sthird junior achievement.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Do you have any examples for high school?
Because we talked a lot aboutelementary school, which I love,
because elementary schoolteachers just have a really
special place in my heart.
But what about if I'm a highschool teacher?
What kind of programming do youhave, or lessons?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
is that we have what we call our essential skills,
credential.
That really helps learnersmaster six different competency
areas, and all those competencyareas really dovetail into
civics and, for example,collaboration, cultural agility,
communication, and so throughsome of those activities they're
also gaining access to someanalytical tools that help them
evaluate where they might landon a particular issue or a topic
(09:55):
, or even solve a work problemin the future.
And so, whether that's aspractical as looking at a
decision tree or a two by twomatrix, they're applying that in
some of these programming tolook at solving business
problems, but also being able tosay where do I stand on this
particular topic.
And it's different in thatfacilitated debate with some of
(10:18):
their peers, how do I navigatethat when I think differently
about what my classmates mightthink about, or perhaps what I'm
reading in the news, and beingable to kind of decipher some of
that.
So that's what it looks like ina more advanced level, in the
high school world or in secondgrade, they're still putting it
into practice.
It's just a little bitdifferent.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I appreciate that, because critical thinking and
the ability to look at abusiness problem like I mean,
I'm mid-career, I guess youcould say, and I still do those
things Like that is somethingthat's evergreen, regardless of
what job you have, right,because we all as adults have to
do those things and I thinkthat employers appreciate
(10:58):
somebody who can come in withthose critical thinking skills,
or somebody who has come in andthey can practice, you know,
being in a team meeting andsaying I disagree and here's why
.
And having those conversationsbecause, again, they've already
practiced in this laboratorythat is their high school
classroom.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I was going to say I'd be remiss too if I don't
mention our JA BizTown programand that's a program for kind of
that middle section of learners, where they actually come and
they run the town for the dayand there is a mayor who runs
the town, they actually vote oncitizens of the day and various
issues from a civic engagementstandpoint.
I think it also demonstratesand helps the students see how
(11:41):
it's interwoven into every partof what we do, whether we
realize it or not.
So there's subtle and veryovert opportunities for learners
through the junior achievementprograms.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And is that the one that's in person, right, because
you actually have somewherethat classes can go.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat, because the first time
you told me I was like I justkind of want to live there.
Yeah, I mean, I agree.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I love it when I go into that.
So it's in Tempe.
We have student sized towns weactually have two of them, so we
can accommodate as many schoolsas possible and in the junior,
the junior achievement biz townprogram, what happens is
learners spend a variety ofhours with their teachers in
advance of their site visitwhere they are learning about
(12:26):
all these concepts.
They're learning about civics,they're learning about the
economy, they're learning aboutwork and building some of those
skills they actually apply fortheir jobs and they get put into
different teams where there's aCEO and CFO of every business
and then all the jobs arerelevant to the rest of the
specific business they're in andthey come running the town and
the economy for the day andthey're learning.
(12:48):
Like I said, there's a mayorwho's kind of the point person,
who runs all the town meetings,who gets the day started, who
introduces all the CEOs, andthey actually run the town for
the day and they put all thoseskills into practice.
So it's not a field trip.
Yes, the district may mark itas a field trip, check mark it
as a field trip, but it's not afield trip, it's an experience.
(13:09):
That is really that culmination, that capstone from what
they've been learning in theclassroom, turning that theory
into practice, like we talkabout.
And then there's someprocessing activities and and
it's one of those oftentimes ourteachers come and after they've
come for a few years they takeadvantage of all the extra
supplemental lessons becausethey see how it layers into
everything else they're teachingfor the year and it takes on a
(13:31):
whole life of its own.
It's one of the bestopportunities for those fourth,
fifth and sixth graders in ourstate to come put it into
practice.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That sounds so cool.
Is there a cost associated withthat for?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
districts.
So there is.
We do have a student cost rightnow and we help subsidize our
cost to run it of about $18 astudent and I will say at face
value.
People hear that and they think,oh, that sounds like a lot.
To be totally frank, districtshave come to us and said we
expected it to be more like $100and $120 a student.
We wish, but our job is to makeit accessible.
(14:05):
Right, we wish because we haveto raise about $2 million a year
to be able to provide thatprogram specifically to learners
.
So it's a lot of hard work, butwe're so passionate about the
impact that we seethroughBizTown and through all
of our programs that that's whatwe're here for.
That's our job is to helpsustain it for the long term.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I love that so much.
So have we talked about all theother core topics that are
integrated into juniorachievements programs?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah, the critical thinking really underpins
everything that we do, but allof our programs are really
rooted around career readinessand financial literacy and
entrepreneurship, and so, as youcan imagine, the civic side
plays into all elements of allof those types of programming.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So you're talking about helping learners think
what does that mean for today'syou Right, I think when I'm
thinking about this question,I'm thinking about you know
everything.
They can look up chat, gtp orlike they're on their phones or
on the internet, and we reallywant to kind of shift that right
and make sure that, yes,they're using these tools
(15:17):
because they're awesome andthey're you know, they're where
our future lies, but also not atthe expense of them thinking so
how do you look at that?
What does this mean for today'syouth?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, we like to think about this type of
experience as, first andforemost, oftentimes helping
them unthink or relearn how tothink, looking at things like,
for example, what assumptions orbiases do we operate off of?
Just intuitively, becausethat's how the human body has
(15:51):
evolved to be successful andsurvive right.
So how do we look at thoseassumptions and biases for what
they are?
And sometimes assumptions dohelp us evaluate, but how do we
look at them in a way thatallows us to be impartial?
And so we help them with avariety of tools that oftentimes
become second nature being ableto think through OK.
(16:14):
How do I assess whether that'san assumption or actually fact
based?
How do I look at?
all the information that's outthere and be able to evaluate.
Is that accurate or is it inline with what I know to be true
?
Do I look at counterconsiderations.
Do I look at this applies toeverything, like we talked about
the business world, theireveryday life, whether that's
(16:38):
civics or politics oriented.
There's all kinds of things thatthis type of learning or this
type of approach will help themevaluate the thinking that
they're doing in their future.
So it's really unwinding waysthat they may have learned to
think and helping them becomenot just a process thinker but
an analytical thinker and then athinker that helps them be
(16:59):
productive as employees, part ofthe future workforce, leaders
in their family and also, ofcourse, contributing members of
society as a whole.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I love that.
It sounds like we're looking atthat from a lens of curiosity,
right.
What are my assumptions andbiases?
Especially if I'm looking atentrepreneurship and I want to
have a business?
It's actually really importantfor us to acknowledge what our
assumptions and biases are,because it's going to be helpful
to our business, right, andthat whole unlearning process
(17:31):
can be really fun, even as anadult.
So, students, if you'relistening to this, we're still
doing this as adults.
It's just part of being a humanbeing.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, all day, every day, I think about that and I
think about the fact that someof the tenants that we help
create some learningopportunities in around cultural
agility.
When you go into the workspaceor when you're in adulthood,
you're going to encounter alldifferent types of people, and
being able to figure out howbest to check some of those
assumptions and biases in a waythat allows you to accomplish
your goals, allows you to be themost successful that you want
(18:07):
to be and ultimately, allows usto have the best working and
productive society that we canhave, is a really fun part for
me about being able to thinkabout.
Not only am I unlearning thatall the time, able to think
about, not only am I unlearningthat all the time, but also
helping influence what thatlooks like for youth at a
younger age, so that they don'thave to encounter some of the
roadblocks or missteps that Imade or that perhaps you made or
(18:28):
every other adult around us hasmade.
We're going to help them havesome.
It's almost like a cheat codefor them, right, and what kid
doesn't love a cheat code whenit comes to getting somewhere
faster?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
right, a thousand percent.
So if you were to give like aquick elevator pitch of what the
impacts of junior achievementor using junior achievement in
your classroom, in your district, are, what would that be?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So from the educator lens, I'm going to take a
twofold.
From the educator lens, we knowthat our students actually are
more engaged in the learningexperience ongoing, not just
through the Junior AchievementProgram but for content, cte
programs.
They're more engaged becausethey see that real world
connectivity and relevancy.
We also know that in some ofour more advanced programs we're
(19:14):
seeing a decrease inabsenteeism, increase in sense
of belonging in school culture.
There's a whole bunch ofcomponents that are really
attractive, of course, on theeducator's side, because also
one of those things that are notbarriers anymore and teachers
get back to their originalpurpose of why they entered the
field.
Who wouldn't want to do thatright?
(19:35):
From the student lens, we trackour alumni data across the
country every few years and wesee really, really profound
impacts.
We see that our learners learn,our JA alumni learn more or
earn more.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Forgive me they earn more.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
We see that they are more satisfied in their future
careers.
We see that we have learnerswho are more likely to start a
business and employ more than100 people and generate more
than $10 million in revenueevery year.
We see that our learners aremore likely to get some form of
advanced degree, whether that'sgraduates or even with trade and
(20:13):
certificate programs.
So we know that by supportingwhat teachers are doing in the
classroom, by again creatingthat relevancy and creating this
foundational knowledge forthese learners, we're sending
them on the path to futuresuccess that is like that impact
is incredible.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I'm like I know this is an audio podcast, but I feel
like my jaw was just likehanging open because it's.
I mean, that's what we want aseducators, right?
We want things that areimpactful and improving and that
, like that, is more thanimpactful improvement.
So what's next for juniorachievement?
Like, what do you guys havecoming down the pipeline?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, so for over 70 years in Arizona 100 years
across the country we've beensupporting teachers and
educators through supplementalin-class programming.
Of course it's mostly most ofit's free.
It's all standards aligned, soit helps check those boxes.
One of the things that we'reseeing, though, over the last
decade, and where we're activelygetting involved now, is how
(21:16):
can we take that proven impactand help impact change at the
system level within educationand within our workforce efforts
, and so we've actually launcheda new integrated instructional
model that is interdisciplinary.
It layers in business casechallenges in real time for the
learning experience so that wetake all these things that we
(21:38):
just talked about here and weembed them into math and into
ELA and into science and socialstudies and CTE, so that
learners keep that connectivityat every step of the way, and it
reinforces all the reallypassionate core content that
students are learning and helpsthem understand how that's going
to matter in their adult life,and it answers that.
(22:00):
Why question before thelearners even have to ask it.
So, that's where we are today iswe're moving into and launching
a new instructional model.
We have our first two schoolshere in Arizona starting on
August 4th and we haveaggressive plans to expand that
to about eight to 10comprehensive public high
schools in Arizona within thenext five years and then we'll
(22:21):
roll down into the middle schoollearning experience and create
that continuum of learnerscoming and participating in
junior achievement fromkindergarten all the way through
adulthood.
How can we change the way thatwe're learning and educating as
a whole?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I love that.
So if I'm an educator and I'mlistening to this, I'm like this
is really interesting.
What would be my next step?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
So the model is called 3DE.
It stands for three-dimensionaleducation, where the
intersection of juniorachievement and the education
system and workforce business.
So check out 3DESchoolsorg orvisit our local website, JAAZorg
, and you can learn all aboutthat model.
Also at JAAZorg is all of theprograms that we have on our
(23:10):
website so that you can look andyou can filter based on who you
are, what grade level, whattype of learning environment
you're in and what would meetthe needs of your learners, and
then have a conversation with us.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I love that, annie.
Thank you so much Again.
I know we've had multipleconversations, but I'm so
excited for listeners to hearthis because you know and I had
shared with you, the wholereason we're doing this podcast
is we're just trying to makesure that educators have
everything that they need, andthis makes me wish that, when I
was a middle school educator for13 years, that I had been
(23:46):
introduced to this, because Ithink sometimes, as educators,
there's so much out there and itgets so overwhelming until we
hear what can this do and howcan this benefit my students.
It doesn't really click.
So thank you so much for takingthe time to chat with us
Listeners.
I will put all of thesewebsites and their socials too,
(24:08):
in our show notes if you areinterested.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, thank you so much.
welcome back to the Arizona civics podcast.
I love meeting other civiceducators in the state of
Arizona and I got to meet Annefrom junior achievement and
we've had like three or fourconversations.
I feel like at this point, um,we have a lot, a lot in common
as parents, but also you workwith junior achievement, which I
(00:23):
knew Junior Achievement when Itaught, but things have kind of
changed.
So before we even get started,Anne, can you introduce yourself
and let us know what JuniorAchievement is?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
I'm Annie Landers, the ChiefOperating Officer of Junior
Achievement of Arizona.
We're a nonprofit that existsto prepare learners of really
all ages to succeed in work andlife, and along with that comes
an understanding of futurecareers in the economy, comes
knowing how to manage your money, knowing how to be a good
(00:56):
citizen and a contributingmember of society.
So all the things that reallylead to that successful path is
kind of where our programs arefocused.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
That is wonderful.
So what does Junior Achievementdo for Arizona educators?
Like what is kind of thatmission and vision of Junior
Achievement.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, we partner with about 180,000 learners across
the state.
We give them those skills andwe do that primarily through
partnership with educators inabout 400 schools, and those
learners are ages kindergartenthrough adulthood.
So really, if you're aneducator who's looking in this
space and you are looking forsome solutions, it's highly
(01:39):
likely we have something that'sa fit for you.
We provide a lot of content andcurriculum and that is all free
to educators and so it could bedelivered by the teachers
directly.
We can help place somevolunteers that have a similar
or specific background inclassroom settings.
It can be delivered all in asingle day as kind of like an
(02:00):
in-school field trip, or it canbe delivered once a week over
several weeks.
We have semester-longprogramming.
Really, it's almost choose yourown adventure.
We have a solution that canhelp satisfy what you're looking
for or what makes the mostsense for the learners that are
under your umbrella.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
That's awesome.
So who can partner with JuniorAchievement?
Like, does it have to be adistrict, does it have to be a
whole school?
Can it be a teacher?
And then, where does JuniorAchievement currently partner
with learners?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah.
So again, I hate to make itsound like we serve the world,
but really we do.
We have district-widepartnerships, so any district
staff or admin that isinterested.
We also have a lot of teacherswho have their unique focus
under their specific studentsand their specific content area
(02:53):
or grade level and we partnerwith them on an individual basis
.
We also partner with a lot ofnon-traditional educators,
homeschool groups or groups thatare involved, with those that
are in foster care.
We partner with students whoare under state mandated
education or perhaps justinvolved.
There's all kinds of differenttypes of learners that we and
(03:15):
educators who are reallypassionate about those learners
that we partner withPost-secondary also learners who
are teaching in non-traditionalenvironments, even like library
programs and things along thoselines.
Again, we really try to createdifferent resources and content
and curriculum that will helpsatisfy whatever an educator is
(03:36):
looking for to meet thoselong-term needs of their
students.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So one of the things you know, I think, that
providers like you and I try todo is make educators' lives
easier.
We don't want programs oranything to be one more thing.
We want it to be something thatenriches their students while
making educators' jobs easier.
So how does Junior Achievementsprograms make educators' lives
easier?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
year.
Yeah, I'm so glad you asked that.
The way we kind of talk aboutwhat we do is almost as a
solution provider, and reallyit's sometimes it's a thought
partnership, and so maybe ittakes an initial conversation
about what, what are the needs,what are the solutions or the
challenges you're facing and howmight we help meet those needs.
And so oftentimes it looks likeour standards aligned free
curriculum, content andcurriculum.
(04:26):
So imagine you give us, you'rereaching a group of third
graders and we say here's an offthe shelf proven programming
that has lesson plans anddirection, or or if, and all the
materials, I should say to allthe student materials.
But if we hear that you wouldprefer to have business
community come in and deliver,that we'll help with that as
(04:48):
well.
And so our goal is not to say,hey, now you have new things
that you have to tackle.
There's, there's new standardsthat roll out, or there's
refined standards or there'sthis is just an extra
supplemental thing.
No, the reality is we like tomake sure that our program
aligns to everything you alreadyhave to do and help check those
(05:08):
boxes and do it in a way wherethe students are excited and
engaged and it's tactile andit's energetic and it helps the
students see what our educatorsare teaching and the relevancy
of that to the real worldconnection for them one day.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Hi, I love that you talked about business leaders,
because I think that havingpeople in your classroom with
different types of experiencereally is what gets your kids
excited, right?
You're able to kind of open thedoor and introduce them to
people within the community, butalso introduce the community to
your classroom, which thosepartnerships are so important.
Yeah, so you talked about likethird grade, right?
(05:48):
One of the things that we atthe Arizona Civics Podcast want
to make sure is we're not just apodcast for high school social
studies teachers, right?
I think a lot of times peoplehear the term civics and they
think a standalone course, andwe believe that civics belongs
everywhere, right?
Even the little kids, even thebig kids, even post-secondary.
(06:09):
So what ages and grades doesJunior Achievement have program?
You've kind of alluded to this,but I want to make sure any
listeners really understand that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, so we are passionate equal, you know,
equally in meeting that passionthere.
We're passionate about the factthat learners are at different
stages in their understanding ofall these concepts, and so we
have programs that are forstudents age kindergarten
through post-secondary.
The post-secondary is going tobe more curated, based on what's
(06:40):
being accomplished throughtheir learning environment.
But let me give you an exampleIn second grade, when you talked
about not just a high schoolcivics class, in second grade
our programs actually have thelearners go through and they do
a fun activity where theyevaluate a school project that
would help improve the campus orthe community, and then they
actually vote how they might puttheir tax dollars that they
(07:04):
earned on a previous activity,how they might apply that for
the aggregate gain of the schoolcommunity.
And they have some, you know,informal facilitated debate and
they actually vote and they talkthrough their votes and they
talk about the outcomes and theygo through the disappointment
if their choice wasn't selectedand the celebration, and there's
(07:25):
a whole bunch of elements to itthat really scale up to what it
looks like as an adult andbeing a contributing member.
So that's a whole bunch ofelements to it that really scale
up to what it looks like as anadult and being a contributing
member.
So that's just an example.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
That's like practicing right.
You're able to practice thisskill because I'm thinking like,
oh my gosh, like learning tovote right, and if my candidate
doesn't win, like how do I dealwith that disappointment?
Or talking about how I thinktax dollars in my community
should be spent.
I mean, starting that in secondgrade you're, they're just
practicing the skill in anenvironment that allows them to
(07:58):
practice and and to have theseconversations kind of without um
a grade.
If you will, is that?
I don't know if that's theright word.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Being measured by it, it's more so just yeah, I you
know.
One of the things we talk oftenabout, which I think goes hand
in hand with every civicsconversation you have, is the
ability to think critically, andthat's sometimes a buzzword,
but really it's a practice skillthat doesn't just automatically
happen for any learner at anyage.
You have to put it intopractice and you have to do it
(08:33):
in all different types of ways.
So that's a whole lot of whatour programs do, regardless of
the topic If they're, even whenthey're learning about how to
manage money or they'reexploring career paths, we're
actually giving them some ofthose foundational skills and
critical thinking that thenparody over to any conversation
you're having, whether it's aformal civics conversation or
(08:54):
just knowing how to navigatedivergent thinking.
As an adult, you're able todraw on some of those critical
skills that you learn, whetherthat's second grade or in high
school or as a young adult'sthird junior achievement.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Do you have any examples for high school?
Because we talked a lot aboutelementary school, which I love,
because elementary schoolteachers just have a really
special place in my heart.
But what about if I'm a highschool teacher?
What kind of programming do youhave, or lessons?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
is that we have what we call our essential skills,
credential.
That really helps learnersmaster six different competency
areas, and all those competencyareas really dovetail into
civics and, for example,collaboration, cultural agility,
communication, and so throughsome of those activities they're
also gaining access to someanalytical tools that help them
evaluate where they might landon a particular issue or a topic
(09:55):
, or even solve a work problemin the future.
And so, whether that's aspractical as looking at a
decision tree or a two by twomatrix, they're applying that in
some of these programming tolook at solving business
problems, but also being able tosay where do I stand on this
particular topic.
And it's different in thatfacilitated debate with some of
(10:18):
their peers, how do I navigatethat when I think differently
about what my classmates mightthink about, or perhaps what I'm
reading in the news, and beingable to kind of decipher some of
that.
So that's what it looks like ina more advanced level, in the
high school world or in secondgrade, they're still putting it
into practice.
It's just a little bitdifferent.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I appreciate that, because critical thinking and
the ability to look at abusiness problem like I mean,
I'm mid-career, I guess youcould say, and I still do those
things Like that is somethingthat's evergreen, regardless of
what job you have, right,because we all as adults have to
do those things and I thinkthat employers appreciate
(10:58):
somebody who can come in withthose critical thinking skills,
or somebody who has come in andthey can practice, you know,
being in a team meeting andsaying I disagree and here's why
.
And having those conversationsbecause, again, they've already
practiced in this laboratorythat is their high school
classroom.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I was going to say I'd be remiss too if I don't
mention our JA BizTown programand that's a program for kind of
that middle section of learners, where they actually come and
they run the town for the dayand there is a mayor who runs
the town, they actually vote oncitizens of the day and various
issues from a civic engagementstandpoint.
I think it also demonstratesand helps the students see how
(11:41):
it's interwoven into every partof what we do, whether we
realize it or not.
So there's subtle and veryovert opportunities for learners
through the junior achievementprograms.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And is that the one that's in person, right, because
you actually have somewherethat classes can go.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat, because the first time
you told me I was like I justkind of want to live there.
Yeah, I mean, I agree.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I love it when I go into that.
So it's in Tempe.
We have student sized towns weactually have two of them, so we
can accommodate as many schoolsas possible and in the junior,
the junior achievement biz townprogram, what happens is
learners spend a variety ofhours with their teachers in
advance of their site visitwhere they are learning about
(12:26):
all these concepts.
They're learning about civics,they're learning about the
economy, they're learning aboutwork and building some of those
skills they actually apply fortheir jobs and they get put into
different teams where there's aCEO and CFO of every business
and then all the jobs arerelevant to the rest of the
specific business they're in andthey come running the town and
the economy for the day andthey're learning.
(12:48):
Like I said, there's a mayorwho's kind of the point person,
who runs all the town meetings,who gets the day started, who
introduces all the CEOs, andthey actually run the town for
the day and they put all thoseskills into practice.
So it's not a field trip.
Yes, the district may mark itas a field trip, check mark it
as a field trip, but it's not afield trip, it's an experience.
(13:09):
That is really that culmination, that capstone from what
they've been learning in theclassroom, turning that theory
into practice, like we talkabout.
And then there's someprocessing activities and and
it's one of those oftentimes ourteachers come and after they've
come for a few years they takeadvantage of all the extra
supplemental lessons becausethey see how it layers into
everything else they're teachingfor the year and it takes on a
(13:31):
whole life of its own.
It's one of the bestopportunities for those fourth,
fifth and sixth graders in ourstate to come put it into
practice.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That sounds so cool.
Is there a cost associated withthat for?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
districts.
So there is.
We do have a student cost rightnow and we help subsidize our
cost to run it of about $18 astudent and I will say at face
value.
People hear that and they think,oh, that sounds like a lot.
To be totally frank, districtshave come to us and said we
expected it to be more like $100and $120 a student.
We wish, but our job is to makeit accessible.
(14:05):
Right, we wish because we haveto raise about $2 million a year
to be able to provide thatprogram specifically to learners
.
So it's a lot of hard work, butwe're so passionate about the
impact that we seethroughBizTown and through all
of our programs that that's whatwe're here for.
That's our job is to helpsustain it for the long term.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I love that so much.
So have we talked about all theother core topics that are
integrated into juniorachievements programs?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah, the critical thinking really underpins
everything that we do, but allof our programs are really
rooted around career readinessand financial literacy and
entrepreneurship, and so, as youcan imagine, the civic side
plays into all elements of allof those types of programming.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So you're talking about helping learners think
what does that mean for today'syou Right, I think when I'm
thinking about this question,I'm thinking about you know
everything.
They can look up chat, gtp orlike they're on their phones or
on the internet, and we reallywant to kind of shift that right
and make sure that, yes,they're using these tools
(15:17):
because they're awesome andthey're you know, they're where
our future lies, but also not atthe expense of them thinking so
how do you look at that?
What does this mean for today'syouth?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, we like to think about this type of
experience as, first andforemost, oftentimes helping
them unthink or relearn how tothink, looking at things like,
for example, what assumptions orbiases do we operate off of?
Just intuitively, becausethat's how the human body has
(15:51):
evolved to be successful andsurvive right.
So how do we look at thoseassumptions and biases for what
they are?
And sometimes assumptions dohelp us evaluate, but how do we
look at them in a way thatallows us to be impartial?
And so we help them with avariety of tools that oftentimes
become second nature being ableto think through OK.
(16:14):
How do I assess whether that'san assumption or actually fact
based?
How do I look at?
all the information that's outthere and be able to evaluate.
Is that accurate or is it inline with what I know to be true
?
Do I look at counterconsiderations.
Do I look at this applies toeverything, like we talked about
the business world, theireveryday life, whether that's
(16:38):
civics or politics oriented.
There's all kinds of things thatthis type of learning or this
type of approach will help themevaluate the thinking that
they're doing in their future.
So it's really unwinding waysthat they may have learned to
think and helping them becomenot just a process thinker but
an analytical thinker and then athinker that helps them be
(16:59):
productive as employees, part ofthe future workforce, leaders
in their family and also, ofcourse, contributing members of
society as a whole.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I love that.
It sounds like we're looking atthat from a lens of curiosity,
right.
What are my assumptions andbiases?
Especially if I'm looking atentrepreneurship and I want to
have a business?
It's actually really importantfor us to acknowledge what our
assumptions and biases are,because it's going to be helpful
to our business, right, andthat whole unlearning process
(17:31):
can be really fun, even as anadult.
So, students, if you'relistening to this, we're still
doing this as adults.
It's just part of being a humanbeing.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, all day, every day, I think about that and I
think about the fact that someof the tenants that we help
create some learningopportunities in around cultural
agility.
When you go into the workspaceor when you're in adulthood,
you're going to encounter alldifferent types of people, and
being able to figure out howbest to check some of those
assumptions and biases in a waythat allows you to accomplish
your goals, allows you to be themost successful that you want
(18:07):
to be and ultimately, allows usto have the best working and
productive society that we canhave, is a really fun part for
me about being able to thinkabout.
Not only am I unlearning thatall the time, able to think
about, not only am I unlearningthat all the time, but also
helping influence what thatlooks like for youth at a
younger age, so that they don'thave to encounter some of the
roadblocks or missteps that Imade or that perhaps you made or
(18:28):
every other adult around us hasmade.
We're going to help them havesome.
It's almost like a cheat codefor them, right, and what kid
doesn't love a cheat code whenit comes to getting somewhere
faster?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
right, a thousand percent.
So if you were to give like aquick elevator pitch of what the
impacts of junior achievementor using junior achievement in
your classroom, in your district, are, what would that be?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So from the educator lens, I'm going to take a
twofold.
From the educator lens, we knowthat our students actually are
more engaged in the learningexperience ongoing, not just
through the Junior AchievementProgram but for content, cte
programs.
They're more engaged becausethey see that real world
connectivity and relevancy.
We also know that in some ofour more advanced programs we're
(19:14):
seeing a decrease inabsenteeism, increase in sense
of belonging in school culture.
There's a whole bunch ofcomponents that are really
attractive, of course, on theeducator's side, because also
one of those things that are notbarriers anymore and teachers
get back to their originalpurpose of why they entered the
field.
Who wouldn't want to do thatright?
(19:35):
From the student lens, we trackour alumni data across the
country every few years and wesee really, really profound
impacts.
We see that our learners learn,our JA alumni learn more or
earn more.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Forgive me they earn more.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
We see that they are more satisfied in their future
careers.
We see that we have learnerswho are more likely to start a
business and employ more than100 people and generate more
than $10 million in revenueevery year.
We see that our learners aremore likely to get some form of
advanced degree, whether that'sgraduates or even with trade and
(20:13):
certificate programs.
So we know that by supportingwhat teachers are doing in the
classroom, by again creatingthat relevancy and creating this
foundational knowledge forthese learners, we're sending
them on the path to futuresuccess that is like that impact
is incredible.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I'm like I know this is an audio podcast, but I feel
like my jaw was just likehanging open because it's.
I mean, that's what we want aseducators, right?
We want things that areimpactful and improving and that
, like that, is more thanimpactful improvement.
So what's next for juniorachievement?
Like, what do you guys havecoming down the pipeline?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, so for over 70 years in Arizona 100 years
across the country we've beensupporting teachers and
educators through supplementalin-class programming.
Of course it's mostly most ofit's free.
It's all standards aligned, soit helps check those boxes.
One of the things that we'reseeing, though, over the last
decade, and where we're activelygetting involved now, is how
(21:16):
can we take that proven impactand help impact change at the
system level within educationand within our workforce efforts
, and so we've actually launcheda new integrated instructional
model that is interdisciplinary.
It layers in business casechallenges in real time for the
learning experience so that wetake all these things that we
(21:38):
just talked about here and weembed them into math and into
ELA and into science and socialstudies and CTE, so that
learners keep that connectivityat every step of the way, and it
reinforces all the reallypassionate core content that
students are learning and helpsthem understand how that's going
to matter in their adult life,and it answers that.
(22:00):
Why question before thelearners even have to ask it.
So, that's where we are today iswe're moving into and launching
a new instructional model.
We have our first two schoolshere in Arizona starting on
August 4th and we haveaggressive plans to expand that
to about eight to 10comprehensive public high
schools in Arizona within thenext five years and then we'll
(22:21):
roll down into the middle schoollearning experience and create
that continuum of learnerscoming and participating in
junior achievement fromkindergarten all the way through
adulthood.
How can we change the way thatwe're learning and educating as
a whole?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I love that.
So if I'm an educator and I'mlistening to this, I'm like this
is really interesting.
What would be my next step?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
So the model is called 3DE.
It stands for three-dimensionaleducation, where the
intersection of juniorachievement and the education
system and workforce business.
So check out 3DESchoolsorg orvisit our local website, JAAZorg
, and you can learn all aboutthat model.
Also at JAAZorg is all of theprograms that we have on our
(23:10):
website so that you can look andyou can filter based on who you
are, what grade level, whattype of learning environment
you're in and what would meetthe needs of your learners, and
then have a conversation with us.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I love that, annie.
Thank you so much Again.
I know we've had multipleconversations, but I'm so
excited for listeners to hearthis because you know and I had
shared with you, the wholereason we're doing this podcast
is we're just trying to makesure that educators have
everything that they need, andthis makes me wish that, when I
was a middle school educator for13 years, that I had been
(23:46):
introduced to this, because Ithink sometimes, as educators,
there's so much out there and itgets so overwhelming until we
hear what can this do and howcan this benefit my students.
It doesn't really click.
So thank you so much for takingthe time to chat with us
Listeners.
I will put all of thesewebsites and their socials too,
(24:08):
in our show notes if you areinterested.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, thank you so much.
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