During the month of February, as well as the end of January, I spent each Friday afternoon volunteering to talk about business and economics with a bunch of 4th Graders. This was in connection with Junior Achievement.
It might sound like pulling teeth, but it was really a blast. The kids were great. They were engaged and interested. In fact, by the end of the course, they were greeting my by name as I entered the room… I was late on the last day, and one of the kids commented that she “was afraid I wasn’t going to be there.”
The whole experience was immensely rewarding.
Just to be clear, these weren’t hand picked students or a special class of high achievers. These were average kids in an average class…
While the details of the classes aren’t important, there is something else that IS very important. The important part is that these kids WANT to learn and WANT to have adult come in and talk with them about the larger world. It helps to be entertaining and to speak to issues and examples to which they can relate.
And there is something else that is important…
As people that are involved in business on a daily basis, we can help these ids understand how business works and how the economic system can benefit them and society as a whole.
It doesn’t matter if you choose to invest your time with Junior Achievement or some other worthy organization, giving to the kids is very rewarding and the payback is exceptional.
Related articles by Zemanta
- My New Challenge – Junior Achievement (lilburndwellings.com)
- Junior Achievement Financial Literacy Programs Save a ‘Lost Generation’ of Youth (newswire.ca)
- Junior Achievement Launches Steps to Success Initiative with $225,000 Grant from OneWest Foundation (eon.businesswire.com)
Comments(5)