Why YOU Should Consider Becoming a JA Volunteer

It is safe to say, that if I did  not have this opportunity to be an intern at JA, I would never have become a volunteer. I just filled the spots that they were missing, and am doing anything they ask me to do. I want to encourage and inspire others discover that Junior Achievement is so fun, yet serious. It can make a huge impact in students academics and help them realize the importance of school, goals, and a future career. JA usually finds volunteers from within businesses around time, usually banks or corporations. Normally, they still pay you for the time you spend teaching JA. The time spent, though, is only one hour a week for six weeks. It's pretty simple! Such a small time commitment can really make a huge difference. kansasja.org  has the most current contact information for JA in the Topeka and surrounding areas. Even if you're not sure, give them a call!

Today, I gave my second session at Landon Middle School, and a first session at Eisenhower Middle School. I encountered some bumps along the way, but all in all, they were good sessions. The Eisenhower class was in the morning, and it was a smaller class than I had at Landon. There were only 12 students present, so it was easy to keep their attention. It wasn't as good as my first run at Landon, but I think I got across to some of the students, at least. For the last 10 minutes I shared my experience so far in college (academically), and they asked me questions about school. Mrs. Arnold, the class teacher, was very helpful in this area. We talked about how the foundations learned in middle and high school really help you later on.

At Landon, my class was extra rowdy. It was hard to keep their focus, and their teacher had a headache and was communicating with them through the projector screen with Microsoft Word. I would try to talk, and see everyone's eyes shift toward the screen, look back, and discovered that he was just adding his own commentary. Safe to say, we made it through about half of the activities that were planned for that session. Oh, did I mention, half of the class left in the middle of the session because of an honor roll assembly. So the rowdiness did commence at that point.

Just another day as a Junior Achievement Volunteer.