K-8 Career Connections

All Kindergarten students can participate in Junior Achievement Ourselves - a career-connected learning experience designed for students to discover individual choices, money, the importance of saving and giving, and the value of work.

JA Ourselves introduces kindergarten students to the intersection of financial literacy and early elementary grades social studies learning objectives. Through hands-on classroom activities, the learning experience provides students with an introduction to personal economics and the choices consumers make to meet their needs and wants. 

• Identify personal interests.
• Explain difference between needs and wants.
• Describe the role of money in society.
• Importance of saving and giving money.
• Organize chronological sequence of events.

All 1st grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Our Families - a career-connected learning experience designed for students to explore how family members’ jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of their family and the community.

JA Our Families introduces students to learning objectives for first-grade social studies, including families, neighborhoods, money, and needs and wants. Through hands-on classroom activities, students also explore the concept of entrepreneurship, specifically the ways in which businesses provide goods, services, and jobs for families. 

All 2nd grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Our Community - a career-connected learning experience where students are immersed in the daily life of their community—the people who work there, the money decisions they make, and the importance of being an engaged community member. 

All 3rd grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Our City - a career-connected learning experience where students are introduced to financial literacy while learning how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city.

JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching™ introduces third grade students to financial JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching literacy and grade-level social studies learning objectives, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city. Dr. Alice Wilder, an award-winning expert on childhood learning (Blue’s Clues, Super Why, Cha-Ching, Speakaboos, and Amazon Kids original programming), consulted on the redevelopment of the learning experience.  

All 4th grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Our Region - a career-connected learning experience designed to cultivate students entrepreneurial skills to meet the requirements of a demanding and everchanging workforce.

JA Our Region introduces fourth-grade students to the intersection of entrepreneurship and upper elementary grades social studies learning objectives. Through hands-on classroom activities, the learning experience provides students with a practical approach to starting a business.

All 5th grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Our Nation - a career-connected learning experience designed help students understand the skills, especially in science, technology, engineering and math, that will make their futures brighter.

JA Our Nation introduces fifth-grade students to the intersection of work readiness and upper elementary grades social studies learning objectives. Through hands on classroom activities, the program provides students with practical information about the nation’s free market system and how it serves as an economic engine for businesses and careers.

All 6th grade students can participate in Junior Achievement BizTown - a dynamic, hands-on, financial literacy and career readiness learning experience.

JA BizTown provides educators with lessons and resources to effectively integrate financial literacy and career readiness into the school classroom. The learning experience supports critical thinking skills and student engagement, and successfully combines in-class learning with a daylong visit to an interactive, simulated community.

Students will visit Junior Achievement North in February 2025 - in honor of national CTE Month - Once the 12 JA lessons have been completed. Teachers and schools will be provided a date for their visit in February.

Beginning in 6th grade, students are required to complete My Life Plan,  a career-readiness curriculum that prepares them for life beyond high school graduation.

All 7th grade students can participate in Junior Achievement It’s my Future - a career-connected learning experience designed to prepare your students for the world of work.

JA It’s My Future offers middle school students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students learn that they have their own personal brand and that the brand they build today will reflect on them in the future. They examine well-known logos to learn how individuals and companies create their brands and build their reputations. They assess their personal characteristics to define their own brands and then develop logos to represent themselves.

• Develop the personal-branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job. 
• Research potential careers. 
• Create a basic resume. 
• Recognize appropriate behavior for an interview. 
• Differentiate between soft and technical skills. 

7th grade students will continue fulfilling their My Life Plan requirement,  a career-readiness curriculum that prepares them for life beyond high school graduation.

All 8th grade students can participate in Junior Achievement Career Speakers Series - an interactive guest speaker event for students to learn about careers in their community.

In JA Career Speakers Series, volunteer guest speakers visit with your students and share information about his or her career, work, and education experience. The speakers may bring props, samples of their work, or other visuals to help engage participants. Activities and implementation design will vary based on participants’ level. A Career Speaker event will either be hosted at your school or one of the CTE Tech Centers.

8th grade students will continue fulfilling their My Life Plan requirement,  a career-readiness curriculum that prepares them for life beyond high school graduation.