We are working on the Taste of Coral Springs that will benefit Junior Achievement, Coral Springs Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and North Broward YMCA Family Center. The committee includes representatives from each of the non-profits, the City of Coral Springs and other individuals who are committed to giving back. This is the 3rd year I have been involved and although it is a lot of work, it is lots of fun working with everyone.
JA is responsible for securing the restaurants and beverage vendors. The YMCA handles everything about the silent auction and the Cadet Squadron handles the setup and breakdown of the event, the City of Coral Springs handles the website (up and running but being redesigned!) and tickets, and the Sun-Sentinel/Forum Publishing Group handles the publicity. Of course, there are lots of other moving parts, but we all chip in and get it done.
This year’s event features a Disco theme, so expect lots of platform shoes and polyester! Lots of great food and spirits from ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Cold Stone Creamery and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Coral Springs Melting Pot, Dino’s Pizza Company, Marola’s of Coral Springs and Fra Diavolo Restaurants, Mythos Greek Taverna, Perfect Game Sports Grill, The Whale Raw Bar, Whole Foods Market – Coral Springs, and World of Beer to name a few. Get ready to party with DJ Joey Scott inside from 5:30 to 8:00 and s in the courtyard, the live bands are Jeff Frank and Lori Weaver (6pm to 7pm), the Castaways (7pm to 8pm) and Studio 54 (8pm to 9:30pm).
Call me at 954-979-7109 for email me at blaire@jasouthflorida.org if you have any questions. You can purchase tickets by visiting: www.tasteofcoralsprings.com.
As JA World got back into full swing today by having Hunt Elementary and TequestaTrace Middle School here, I’ve been thinking about my own New Year’s resolutions. Of course, some are all the same that I try for every year – be healthier, spend more quality time with my family, and spend less.
But I wanted to also focus on one that I haven’t overly tried to do each year and that is volunteer. Since I work for a nonprofit, it’s easy to say I don’t need to volunteer but in reality, volunteering for a good cause makes your heart more full. I also want my kids to see that volunteering is something that every person should strive to do as they reach out to help other people.
So if you haven’t decided on which resolution to start with first, I’d hope you’d give a thought to volunteering at JA World or through our in-class programs. Neither require a huge commitment on your part and you’ll be impacting the student’s lives in our community.
Contact Alexa Diaz for more information at (954) 979-7114.
JA BizTown had the final week of operation for 2011 with the last school attending on December 16th. Students were “extra” excited to be here with the upcoming vacation break on the horizon while teachers were admittedly a little fatigued from the race to get it all done on time. As it turned out, we experienced record levels of accomplishment with sales transactions, loan payoffs, and student accomplishments. We also enjoyed an abundance of volunteers for BizTown including an increasing amount of Broward College students from service clubs and fraternities.
JA Finance Park also echoed with the sound of students from various middle schools on their last days prior to vacation. Several groups dressed for success and looked great. We also had great completion rates by days’ end which earned all students a prize from the JA Store as well as a free copy of the Constitution. Over the last week, students were assisted by 7 volunteers from Citrix Corporation and an assortment of community volunteers as well as our Broward College work student interns. We are so grateful to enjoy this support since middle school volunteers from the school are hard to come by and we need the supplemental help. Their assistance exemplified this season of giving.
With 6 new on-site staff members being hired just this past September, it’s been a challenge to get all trained and up to speed. It’s also been a privilege to watch everyone get oriented and improve each day with program implementation. 2012 will be characterized by more assessment data and program improvements as well as reaching out to more students in new areas of instruction. We look forward to reporting on those efforts and new sponsors in future blogs.
Happy Holidays!
John Nowak, VP of Programs
Well Thanksgiving has come and gone! It is just so crazy and hard to believe how 2011 has just flown by. The holiday decorations are all out and there is an energetic buzz in the air, especially here at JA World. Seems as though all the kids coming to JA World are so focused and excited about the experience that lies ahead.
Now more than ever with the holidays approaching, we all need to plan on our own personal budgeting. I am certainly guilty of spending way too much money on the family, friends and especially my children. I always buy great inexpensive gifts early in the year, hide them, forget about them and then have to buy more. I am a retail stores dream come true.
We joke here at JA World that all parents should volunteer in our
8th grade Finance Park because everyone these days could learn to budget their finances just a bit better. Even more so around the holidays! If you are interested in learning more about personal finance, please give Alexa a call at 954.979.7114 to put your name on the list and re-educate yourself on how to budget.
Hope to see you in Finance Park, one day real soon. Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you!
Wow, we’re at it again! JA’s giving students the opportunity to be business owners. Introducing….. SAStyle, a JA Company. Students at St. Andrews School in Boca Raton have started a JA Company that sells fancy iphone cases. The JA Company Program experience enhances students’ classroom curriculum taught by a JA Volunteer. These Students are encouraged to use innovative thinking to learn business skills that support positive attitudes as they explore and enhance their career aspirations. You can check out SAStyle at http://www.saintandrews.net/page.cfm?p=1534. More JA in-class volunteers are needed throughout schools in Broward and South Palm Beach County. Contact me at sennetha@jasouthflorida.org for more information. I’d love to hear from you! Contact me at Sennetha@jasouthflorida.org.
JA South Florida grew up one day, and when we did, the requests starting coming in – seeking a seat on our board! Whoa!
When I first started working for JA, it wasn’t quite like that. Instead, I remember dreaming about the board we would have one day…and now, that dream is coming true.
What a different country we live in! I’ll never forget the Chinese delegation that come to visit us one day. They said, “now wait! You are telling us that you get money and time from people and companies who want to teach children how to grow up and build businesses that may one day, compete with theirs?” Although I couldn’t understand their speech very easily that day because of the thick accent, the Chinese delegation really couldn’t understand that!
People work hard at their jobs, and they commit to give time, finances, and thoughtful leadership to a charitable cause in addition to their work. There are hundreds and hundreds of non-profits just in Broward County, and each one has a group of board members who give to forward the organizations mission.
At the beginning of the school year, November 16th promised to be quiet day in JA BizTown. No public school 5th graders were scheduled. Instead, it turned into a packed house as 227 students from Pine Crest School and Calvary Christian School headed into both BizTowns to run businesses, sell goods and services, follow directions, act out employee roles, make purchases, and pay off business loans. This was Pine Crest (Boca Raton) School’s first foray into JA BizTown but Calvary Christian was just as enthusiastic with their participation. Both schools represented a growing amount of private school interest in JA World as we continue through our 3rd year of operation. Thus far, we have almost 1,000 students from 11 private schools participating in JA BizTown with an additional 430 from 6 schools in JA Finance Park. From as far south as Miami up to Boca Raton, the word is spreading—and the list is growing—as we reach to serve 2,000 private school students this year!
“One thing is obvious Alexa… coming back to South Florida… and back to Junior Achievement was the perfect choice! You smile all the time! You are genuinely happy!” said my friend who has known me since we were in elementary school. I have always been interested in Communications, PR, Marketing and working with people – I just didn’t think that Volunteer Recruitment was the job for me.
Now as I meet and greet our 7:30am volunteers who are still struggling to open their eyes when coming in, all I can do is smile. I never truly was a morning person, but I can admit that I actually enjoy waking up every day to come to work. Every day is different – and being able to actually see these volunteer’s eyes open wide as they walk in our doors gives me satisfaction because I know “today will be a great day in JA!”
Then come the children – their enthusiasm, charisma and curiosity shining from their eyes… walking in wearing suits, ties, dresses and high heels… they are CEO’s, CFO’s and other entrepreneurs for that whole entire day… their decisions will impact their life today – and their future knowledge in general! Once you see it – you cannot stop talking about it! Call us… and JOIN! We need more than 60 volunteers each day – and I will guarantee you will have an impactful experience.
Hard to believe it’s November and Junior Achievement has been in full swing since September with over 400 students visiting us each day to learn about Economic Education, Financial Literacy, and entrepreneurship. We have heard from so many of the students, who visit JA WORLD, that this is the best experience ever. One student even asked her teacher if she could be retained so that she could come back to JA BizTown again next year. As you can imagine the feedback from the students makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of donors, foundations and corporations to help us bring our programming to the 50,000 students who live in Broward and South Palm Beach County. We can always use your help! If you would like to volunteer with the students at JA World or in a classroom, help out at a fundraising event or make a donation to help JA continue to provide top quality programming to all our students, pick up the phone and call me: Jodi Danois, Director of Development at 954.979.7115 and we can get you started.
OMG, Its November already… I’m finally settled after being on medical leave for a month. Many in-class program trainings have taken place and more volunteers are needed to help educate our youth. Our goal is to touch 2,000 high school students with economic education and financial literacy. We are well on our way. However we still need more volunteers, especially for our JA Student Company program. A group of students at 5 local high schools in Broward County Public Schools will get together and actually run their own company starting in December. Who knows? If you volunteer you may get the opportunity to touch the life of a future entrepreneur like Bill Gates or Jay Z. The time commitment is only once a week for a semester.
WE NEED YOU! I NEED YOU! Call me, Sennetha Desroches, at 954-979-7101 for more information. I’m off and running.
