Press Center: News Releases
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AND NRTA PARTNER TO FOSTER FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG YOUTH
News Release
June 19, 2008
As a slipping economy erodes hopes that many have for achieving financial success and living the American Dream, NRTA: AARP’s Educator Support Network (formerly known as National Retired Teacher’s Association) and Junior Achievement® have joined together to help young people make healthy personal financial decisions. Through a grant from the AARP Foundation and The Hartford, NRTA is in a unique position to reach out to volunteers who have first hand knowledge and experience of impacting children in the classroom – retired educators.
By joining forces, Junior Achievement and NRTA will advance financial literacy among young people over the next year. NRTA through its nationwide network of Retired Educator Associations (REA) will help recruit volunteers for Junior Achievement programs. Four cities—Chicago, Columbus, Ohio; Phoenix and Washington, D.C., are set to pilot the program this spring, followed by a national roll-out this fall.
“This partnership has the potential to significantly expand Junior Achievement’s reach,” said Jack E. Kosakowski, president Junior Achievement USA and executive vice president and chief operating officer of JA Worldwide. “If just one volunteer from each local REA participates, Junior Achievement’s impact can increase by a minimum of 2,700 additional classrooms, representing nearly 70,000 students. This collaboration works on two levels—to expand and enrich our programs—as the pool of REA members consists of more than one-million retired educators and school personnel at the local, state and national levels. We are thrilled to engage the education community and leverage their expertise to the benefit of our youth.”
Junior Achievement staff will train REA volunteers to help students bridge relevancy and reality, by teaching real-world application of the financial principles fundamental to achieving life-long success. Specifically, students learn entrepreneurial skills, how to create jobs for themselves and others, financial literacy skills including budgeting, the importance of saving, weighing investment options and work-readiness skills that enhance personal awareness of vocational interests and prepare students to succeed in the workplace.
NRTA and Junior Achievement aspire to improve financial literacy as young adults labor to grasp basic financial skills like budgeting and saving for the future. According to the 2006 National Financial Literacy Summit Report by the Credit Union National Association, sixty percent of teens do not know the difference between cash, credit cards and checks.
“NRTA’s collaboration with Junior Achievement is our chance to make a positive change in the individual lives of the youth as well as for the economic health of our nation,” commented Megan Steven Hookey, NRTA Interim Director. “Our members share a unique commitment to learning which makes this collaboration worthwhile for everyone involved.”
Retired educators will be working with local Junior Achievement offices to address the needs of young people residing in the same communities as its chapters.
About Junior Achievement® Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12. Junior Achievement offers educational programs that focus on three key content areas: entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy. Today, 140 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional 4.3 million students served by operations in 118 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.
About NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community NRTA: AARP's Educator Community is the nation's largest organization serving the interests and needs of working and retired educators age 50 years and over. Founded by retired educator Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus in 1947, NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community (formerly known as the National Retired Teachers Association) is a division of AARP. NRTA members share a commitment to learning, voluntary service, and civic participation. NRTA represents the interests of 50+ educators, with a membership of nearly one-million active and retired higher-ed and K-12 educators and school personnel at the local, state and national level. The NRTA Network includes a national office in Washington, DC, 53 state and city associations, and more than 2,700 local associations. For more information, visit www.aarp.org/nrta/.