St. Louis, MO - On December 2 Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) toured JA Finance Park at Junior Achievement Headquarters in Chesterfield Valley. During his visit, he observed 42 students from Beaumont High School Academy of Finance engaged in personal finance activities.
Congressman Akin and his Director of Community Outreach, Kristina Twitty, watched as Beaumont students participated in the hands-on Junior Achievement program that gives young people the ability to develop personal money management skills, acquire personal finance knowledge, and prepare for financial decisions and challenges they will face in their adult lives. Students make personal spending and saving decisions, track stock portfolios, while balancing their budgets.
Principal Travis Brown stated that, “Hands-on experience is vital for every student. It ties it all together; it’s real life.”
Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley has been in Chesterfield since May of 2004. They served 119,000 students in 2004, anticipating service of 127,000 by the end of the current school year. Since opening, JA has had visitors from not only across the country but also from 14 other countries in Asia, South America, and Europe. They recently approved a plan for Columbia to use their blue prints to build their own JA facility in Bogata. JA trains volunteer instructors working in occupations from auto mechanics, to CEOs and engineers. At the close of last year, JA had 960 classroom requests unfilled due to a lack of available volunteer instructors to teach.
Congressman Akin, who has served as a volunteer instructor at JA was encouraged to see progress in the program and encouraged community involvement, “Having had the opportunity and the experience of teaching young people about commerce, I understand the strength of this program. JA does a wonderful job of training its volunteer instructors from all walks of life to teach finance and economics at every grade level. JA’s Finance Park and Enterprise Village puts that class work into practice in a fun and practical way. I am proud to have JA doing its fine work right here in our own back yard, and I strongly encourage anyone in our community looking for a way to add a little spice to their life in the coming year to get involved with Junior Achievement. The reward will be well worth their time.”
