2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT TABLE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: OF CONTENTS Empowering young people to own their economic success ® 04 JA Results 08 JA Core-Mission Programs 14 JA Special Programs and Events 16 Governing Board of Directors 17 Central Region Partners 23 North Region Partners 24 South Region Partners 26 Financial Information JA of the Heartland Locations: [email protected] Folwell Education Center for Schmid Innovative Center, JA BizTown ® and JA Finance Park® jaheartland.org Free Enterprise Millwork District 116 W. Second Street ja.org 800 12th Avenue 900 Jackson Street, LL5-2F Davenport, IA 52801 Moline, IL 61265 Dubuque, IA 52001 Telephone: 563.884.4438 find us on: Telephone: 309.736.1630 Telephone: 563.845.0545 2 2018-2019 Annual Report LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT CEO AND BOARD CHAIR Dear Friends: Junior Achievement ignites a spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century. We appreciate our community partners, like you, who help support more than 51,500 students benefiting from JA throughout our region. Together, we are committed to delivering life-changing programs that better the lives of our future leaders. While JA honors its first 100 years in 2019, we look forward to ensuring the young people My time with Junior Achievement started as a sophomore in high school. I we reach today are empowered to succeed. learned firsthand how to own and operate a business and work cooperatively with Mike’s experience demonstrates why JA ‘‘others to achieve success. is important. Please read his story called out Those early lessons, quite honestly, were part of the reason I started my own on this page. business 30 years ago. Confidence drives success. We must give JA and its entrepreneurial opportunities for young people open windows, creating our young people a sense of purpose and a a vision of opportunity. belief in themselves to achieve their goals It’s a tremendous program that serves many children well. I look forward to JA’s and aspirations. next 100 years. We invite you to explore our annual report. Mike Vondran Listen to the stories and notice our vast JA of the Heartland Governing Board Chair menu of financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs. The future is bright! Thank you for making certain our students are 100% ready’’ for the future. Sincerely, Dougal Nelson Mike Vondran President CEO CEO, TAG Communications JA of the Heartland JA of the Heartland Governing Board Chair Junior Achievement of the Heartland 3 JA ALUMNI SURVEY RESULTS For 100 years, Junior Achievement has been helping re-engineer education to: · Be more relevant. · Be more experiential. · Connect kids to real role models. And it’s working. A recent JA Alumni Survey demonstrates how JA is turning “I can’t” into “I CAN”. JA Alumni Educational Attainment JA Alumni Career Aspirations 1in 3 Credit JA for influencing career decision General Population General General General Population Population Population 93% 67% 30% 88% 1in 5 Have a high school More likely to have More likely to have Satisfied with career Work in same field as diploma or GED an advanced degree a bachelor’s degree their JA volunteer 4 2018-2019 Annual Report JA Alumni Business Ownership 143% 75% 55% More likely to be Believe U.S. economic Learned how a involved in system benefits most business works entrepreneurial through JA activities JA Alumni Household Income General Population 20% Higher income JA STATISTICS 3 Pillars 24 63 · Financial Literacy Counties Serviced Years of Empowering · Work Readiness the Future · Entrepreneurship 51,520 1,760 2,495 275 Students Individual Classrooms Schools & Youth Reached Volunteers Organizations Junior Achievement of the Heartland 5 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT YEAR IN REVIEW Bayer Agriculture Center Opens at Junior Achievement Rings Closing JA BizTown® Bell at New York Stock Exchange The new Agriculture Center, sponsored by Bayer, hosted its grand On March 12, 2019, Junior Achievement USA® rang The Closing opening on November 15, 2018. The new center inside JA BizTown Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of JA’s 100th introduces students to careers in agriculture and the importance of the Anniversary. The bell was rung by Jack Kosakowski, President and ag industry in our economy. Approximately 5,000 upper-elementary CEO of Junior Achievement USA, who was accompanied by JA students attend JA BizTown each year. volunteers and students. 6 2018-2019 Annual Report JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT YEAR IN REVIEW Jim Victor Remembered with Deere Employees Credit Union JA Centennial Leadership Award Serves as a New Major Sponsor of In celebration of Junior Achievement’s 100th anniversary, JA Areas JA Finance Park® had a special opportunity to recognize an exceptional JA volunteer who has made a profound impact on a JA Area and the students Deere Employees Credit Union has partnered with Junior Achievement served with the JA Area Centennial Leadership Award. Junior of the Heartland to serve as a major sponsor of JA Finance Park. Achievement of the Heartland presented the award to Jim Victor’s Based on program evaluations, we know following participating in JA family at the Jim Victor Memorial JA Golf Classic. Jim Victor was Finance Park, more than 80% of the students will identify their career selected as the recipient for many reasons. He was a JA Classroom interests; understand the importance of taxes and how they affect Volunteer, lead fundraising efforts to make the Folwell Education everyone; realize the advantages and disadvantages of credit cards; Center for Free Enterprise and JA World a reality, sponsored the Jim and successfully manage a personal budget. In addition to their Victor JA Golf Classic for 18 years, and was actively involved in the sponsorship, 13 DECU employees serve as JA Classroom Volunteers, creation of the Free Enterprise Foundation. impacting more than 270 students in the classroom. Junior Achievement of the Heartland 7 JA CORE-MISSION PROGRAMS Junior Achievement's unique delivery system provides the training, materials, and support necessary to prepare students for the real world. The impact is measurable, too. Survey results prove JA helps students develop successful financial management habits and the 21st century skills necessary to succeed in a global economy. Programs Offered: Elementary (Kindergarten - Fifth Grade) KINDERGARTEN FIRST GRADE SECOND GRADE THIRD GRADE JA OURSELVES® JA OUR FAMILIES® JA OUR COMMUNITY® JA OUR CITY® introduces the role people play in an explains how family members’ jobs and explores production methods through features Cha-Ching™ – introducing economy. Young students learn businesses contribute to the well-being a simulation game, and students students to financial literacy, about individual choices, money, the of the family and of the community. learn about taxes, decision making, including how people manage their importance of saving and giving, and how money flows in an economy. money and the importance of and the value of work. economic exchange within a city. FOURTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE THIRD – FIFTH GRADE K - FIFTH GRADE JA OUR REGION® JA OUR NATION® JA MORE THAN MONEY® JA CAREER SPEAKERS SERIES™ introduces students to entrepreneurship provides practical information introduces students to financial provides the students with a guest and how entrepreneurs use about the need for employees who literacy and entrepreneurship, including speaker to share information resources to produce goods and can meet the demands of the 21st money-management skills, goods and about his/her career, work, and services in a community. century job market, particularly services, and global markets. education experience. high-growth, high-demand jobs. JA BIZTOWN® FIFTH GRADE introduces students to economics and business starting with four weeks of teacher-led classroom instruction, Program Reach followed by a daylong, hands-on experience where students apply the learned concepts in a lifelike community at JA World. Students run various businesses, earn paychecks, open and manage bank accounts, and become full-fledged consumers making purchases at other student-run businesses. The program vividly illustrates the connection between hard work and tangible success while allowing students to gain firsthand understanding of their roles as citizens, consumers, and workers. 40,339 Students JA BizTown Sponsors THE BECHTEL TRUSTS 1,703 Volunteers 1,438 Educators 8 2018-2019 Annual Report Cody JA Student, Sageville Elementary School Dubuque, IA CLICK TO WATCH Junior Achievement of the Heartland 9 JA CORE-MISSION PROGRAMS Programs Offered: Middle Grades (Sixth - Eighth Grade) MIDDLE GRADES JA CAREER SPEAKERS SERIES™ JA ECONOMICS FOR SUCCESS® JA EXCELLENCE THROUGH ETHICS® JA GLOBAL MARKETPLACE® provides the students with a guest provides practical information about introduces the importance of ethics introduces students to the global speaker to share information personal finance and the importance and ethical decision-making and how marketplace and the ways in about his/her career, work, and of identifying education and career ethical and unethical choices affect which countries buy and sell from education experience. goals based on a student’s skills, everyone in a community. each other. Gives students an interests, and values. understanding of producers and consumers in the interconnected JA IT'S MY BUSINESS® JA IT'S MY FUTURE® JA IT'S MY JOB™ (SOFT SKILLS) global market. provides middle school students an offers middle school students practical helps students understand the opportunity to experience the initial information to help prepare them for value of professional communication steps necessary to start a business. the working world. Students will develop and soft skills, making them more the personal-branding and job-hunting employable to future employers across skills needed to earn a job. multiple career clusters. JA FINANCE PARK® EIGHTH GRADE demonstrates to students the importance of living within their financial means. After completing four weeks of teacher-led instructions, students visit JA Finance Park in a realistic on-site community at JA World or online in a virtual community.