Junior Achievement looking for volunteers to help increase local programming

| October 5, 2015

COSHOCTON – If you want to help students plan for their future and make smart economic choices then Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio is the perfect organization for you to volunteer with.

The organization started in 1919 and now has programs available for every grade level to teach students about entrepreneurship, financial literacy and workplace readiness.

“About 10 years ago the state board of education said that financial literacy was required to be taught in schools,” said Helene Moncman, district manager for Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio, Inc., which covers Coshocton County. “They mandated it, but they didn’t fund it. Junior Achievement meets the core curriculum requirements. We also meet career connections requirements that were mandated by the state, but not funded.”

Students and teachers both love the Junior Achievement programs that are presented in schools by community volunteers.

“Our evaluations show that 80 percent of students feel more prepared to enter the workforce when they’ve completed a Junior Achievement program in middle school or high school,” Moncman said. “They’ve learned how to write resumes, how to handle job interviews, done some self examination so they know what they think they want to do when they graduate and how to do financial planning.”

Unfortunately, right now Junior Achievement is only impacting six percent of the students in Coshocton County.

“Our biggest impact right now is at Ridgewood Elementary,” Moncman said. “Last year we had many programs not filled in Coshocton County because we couldn’t get volunteers.”

The Junior Achievement programs are already laid out for the volunteers, they just have to prep their material and present it to the students.

“The teachers stay in the classroom, but they don’t lead, the volunteers do,” Moncman said. “The volunteers are the magic ingredient. They are community members and can share their story of how they got where they are.”

Junior Achievement programs are free for the schools and the organization provides paperwork that teachers can print off and attach to lesson plans to prove that they met certain core curriculum requirements.

Volunteers also can benefit from the program.

“It can help you develop confidence with speaking in front of people,” Moncman said.

To learn more about Junior Achievement, visit https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-norcentohio/current-opportunities, where you will find a list of current program requests in Coshocton County and information on how to become a volunteer.

“My goal is to have one program in every district in Coshocton County and grow from there once people see the value of Junior Achievement and we have a force of volunteers,” Moncman said. “I’ll get you trained, make sure you are comfortable and do the scheduling.”

josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com

 

Category: Clubs & Organizations

About the Author ()

I started my journalism career in 2002 with a daily newspaper chain. After various stops with them, I am happy to be back home! I graduated from Coshocton High School in 1998 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication in 2002 from Walsh University. I also earned several awards while working for daily papers, including being honored by Coshocton County’s veterans for the stories I wrote about them. I am honored and ready to once again shine a positive light on Coshocton County. I also am the proud mother of a little girl named Sophia!

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