Junior Achievement of Southern Colorado continues to inspire students at no cost

On the dawn of yet what many are hoping to be another successful fundraiser, Junior Achievement of Southern Colorado continues to be a beacon of shining light, filling a gap for many young students.

Junior Achievement has been around for more than 100 years. It is a non-profit that has helped young people understand the core principles of finance and entrepreneurship. With the help of volunteers and teachers, what they've already accomplished in southern Colorado continues to astound many.

"I just think it's an amazing opportunity for these kids and we need to keep doing it," said Meghan Peterson, a 5th-grade teacher and J.A. member from Otero Elementary School.

Junior Achievement volunteers visited Otero last week. It was a fun day for the students away from the norm, learning budgeting, critical thinking, and hopefully gaining inspiration for the drive to be innovative ... again, while only in the 5th-grade.

"When they come into our school it's just a really great opportunity for these kids to have hands-on experience, like entrepreneurship, and it really gets kids super excited about their opportunities for the future," said Peterson.

Thinking about adult life (finances, business, and planning) at such a young age is ambitious. But Ms. Peterson feels the more time they have to plan, the more likely they can make their dreams come true. 

And she’s not alone, especially considering the quality of volunteers who come in to help inspire these youngsters.  

Erin Cerezo is an instructional coach at Otero. She's been very happy with the J.A. program.

"Getting people outside an educational standpoint to come and spend time in our classrooms and teach our students and have an impact on their view of economics and our world as a whole ... they're phenomenal," she said. "We'll have them any day, any time." 

Most schools don’t teach what J.A. provides: how to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. It’s a gap in education Alex Cooke, a transportation manager for Amazon and J.A. board member, is happy to fulfill.  

"One of the things I think kids are missing is that connection between where money goes, how money moves and what products and services actually cost," said Cooke.

"We talk about what I do. We talk about my progression, things that I've done, and hopefully, it opens up their eyes to 'I don't need to be this' in order to make a good living in my life," he said.

Entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness: just three of J.A.’s core pillars. They are foundational qualities that have inspired people like Derrick Hopkins, a JA student who now teaches J.A.’s pillars to younger, elementary school kids.  

"It didn't encourage me to go into a specific direction, it just kind of helped me with making sure that I was financially stable later in life and found a job that would actually help me provide for a family and provide for myself," said Hopkins.

Matthew Telles is also a former J.A. student who now returns to help kids.  

"Something I remember the most is the ability to critically think about my future and the possibilities of whether I wanted to work for someone or for myself, maybe come up with my own company business idea," said Telles.

Just last school year, J.A. Rocky Mountain reached nearly 12,000 students at 83 schools across the region. The hope is that the investment in our students continues to only grow, at no cost to the students or the schools, in order to affirm our kids have incredibly bright futures. 

"You can always sell what you do and how you do it, but what's really the sticking point is why you do what you do," said Telles.

The 2023 Junior Achievement Gala featuring 'Are You Smarter Than a J.A. 5th Grader?' is this Saturday, May 13 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. If you’d like to contribute or learn more about volunteering you can learn more at SoCo.JA.org.