High School Programs

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Junior Achievement’s elementary school programs are the foundation of its K-12 curricula. Through play-based learning and multimedia resources, students experience fundamental concepts that shape their attitudes towards money, work, and community. These concepts are the building blocks of JA’s education pathways.

Junior Achievement Finance Park Advanced is an authentic simulation where seventh grade students experience their financial futures. Guided by their assigned ‘life situation,’ students apply knowledge gained in the classroom to make routine budget decisions; ultimately, building skills to confidently navigate today’s economic environment.

JA Take Stock in Your Future is a program for high school students that teaches stock market and investing concepts through a five-session curriculum. Participants create fictitious stock portfolios and analyze market trends, developing skills in understanding investment risks and making informed decisions. The program also includes interactive elements like the JA Stock Market Challenge, enhancing financial literacy and preparing students for future financial choices.

The JA Career Exploration Fair is an interactive event that introduces students to a wide range of career pathways across multiple industries. Volunteers share insights about their professions, tools, and required skills while students rotate through stations to ask questions and explore interests. The experience helps students connect their strengths, schoolwork, and future goals, empowering them to make informed choices about education and career readiness.

The JA Career Speaker Series is a program where volunteer guest speakers visit classrooms to share insights about their careers, work experiences, and educational backgrounds. These speakers often bring props, work samples, or other visuals to engage students and provide a more interactive learning experience. The program is designed to help students understand different career paths and the skills needed for various professions.

As high school students begin to position themselves for their future, there are many unanswered questions about what lies ahead. Junior Achievement’s high school programs help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future, and foster skills that will be highly useful in the business world.

JA Business Communications

JA Business Communications, a one-semester teacher-led course, equips high school students to focus on communication skills necessary to succeed in business, including communicating up, down, and across organizations, talking about performance, and writing in a business setting.

JA Economics

JA Economics (Blended Model) is a one-semester course that connects high school students to the economic principles that influence their daily lives as well as their futures. Through a variety of experiential activities, students better understand the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in today's global economy.

JA Entrepreneurial Mindset

JA Entrepreneurial Mindset, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basics of starting a business, including developing entrepreneurial abilities, identifying a business opportunity, creating a business plan, economics, and the stages of business growth.

JA Financial Capability I

In JA Financial Capability I, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course in which high school students examine financial capabilities from a business perspective, focusing on banking, economics, business planning, and risk management.

JA Financial Capability II

JA Financial Capability II is a one-semester teacher-led course, part of the JA High School Experience courses, in which high school students examine financial capabilities from a business perspective, focusing on employee benefits, ethics, business investment, and international business operations.

JA Financial Literacy

JA Financial Literacy, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course that equips high school students with foundational personal finance skills. These concepts include how to earn and save money; how to manage money by being a wise consumer and creating and using a budget; how to manage bank accounts, investments, and credit; how to assess risks and use insurance; and how to address financial problems like identity theft and debt.

JA Introduction to Business & Technology I

JA Introduction to Business and Technology I, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basic skills necessary to succeed in business. Themes include personal skills like teamwork, innovation, decision making, and ethics.

JA Introduction to Business & Technology II

JA Introduction to Business and Technology II, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to the basic skills necessary to succeed in business. Themes include personal skills like innovation, management functions, and accounting.

JA Marketing Principles I

JA Marketing Principles I, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course that introduces high school students to marketing and some basic marketing techniques.

JA Marketing Principles II

JA Marketing Principles II, part of the JA High School Experience courses, is a one-semester teacher-led course in which high school students learn about marketing in the world around them and potential careers in the field.

LAUNCH LESSONS

Held during National Entrepreneurship Month, Launch Lessons allow local entrepreneurs to give an informal talk to high school students. Each year, we partner with diverse innovators who represent a vast spectrum of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

JA High School heroes

An innovative service-learning program that allows high school students to build employability skills such as leadership, public speaking, critical thinking, and time management. Participating students lead elementary students through JA in a Day.

JA Career Speaker Series

JA Career Speaker Series gives students insight into career paths available throughout the region. Guest speakers from different professions visit the classroom and share about their career, work, education experience, and what it takes to become successful in their field.