JA Programs
All JA curriculum is listed below. If desired, you can filter by first selecting a grade level, then a pathway.
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JA Ourselves uses storybook characters in read-aloud and hands-on activities to introduce the role people play in an economy. Through engaging, volunteer-led activities, young students learn about individual choices, money, the importance of saving and giving, and the value of work. (Kindergarten) This volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Families explains how family members' jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of the family and of the community. The learning experience introduces the concept of needs and wants and explores the ways families plan for and acquire goods and services. Students analyze their own skills to determine ways they can support their families. (Grade 1) The learning experience is available in Classroom-Based and Remote Classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Community immerses students in the daily life of their community—the people who work there, the money decisions they make, the flow of the community’s economy, and the importance of being involved and responsible community members. (Grade 2) It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for third–grade social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city. (Grade 3) This learning experience is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Spanish translation is available for JA Our City.
JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region. Students operate a hypothetical hot dog stand to understand the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and to track the revenue and expenses of a business. (Grade 4) This volunteer-led, it-based learning experience is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Nation provides practical information about the need for employees who can meet the demands of the 21st century job market, particularly high-growth, high-demand jobs. Students will understand the skills, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math, that will make their futures brighter. (Grade 5) This volunteer-led, kit-based learning experience is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions and one optional supplemental session, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA More than Money introduces students to financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and to social studies learning objectives that include money-management skills, goods and services, and global markets. Through hands-on activities and a JA cast of characters serving as symbols for financial literacy and entrepreneurship concepts, students will learn a practical approach to starting a business and making smart decisions about managing money. (Grades 3-5) This learning experience can be implemented as classroom- based, remote classroom, or after- school. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Economics for Success introduces students to initial work and career readiness and personal finance concepts. The program offers 6 or more or more instructional contact hours (ICH) based on modular delivery of at least 6 of the 10 sessions. (Grades 6-8)
JA It’s My Future Blended Model offers middle school students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students will develop the personal-branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job. (Grades 6-8) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
Through engaging activities, JA It’s My Business! Blended Model provides middle school students an opportunity to experience the initial steps necessary to start a business. New program content provides an authentic entrepreneurial experience for students, with each session building up to a product-pitch competition. (Grades 6-8) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Global Marketplace Blended Model introduces students to the global marketplace and the ways in which countries buy and sell from each other. Through completion of this program, students will gain an understanding of producers and consumers in the interconnected global market. (Grades 6-8) The program consists of seven 45-minute sessions.
JA Be Entrepreneurial is a reimagined, modular learning experience that teaches students about the mindset and the skills needed for success by aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators who add value to any organization. In JA Rapid Business Planning, students learn about the Lean Model Canvas, the strategic management template for developing business models. (Grades 9-12)
JA Be Entrepreneurial is a reimagined, modular learning experience that teaches students about the mindset and the skills needed for success by aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators who add value to any organization. In JA Creative Problem Solving, students learn and apply design thinking, an innovative process for problem solving used by entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) to brainstorm customer-centric ideas. (Grades 9-12)
JA Be Entrepreneurial is a reimagined, modular learning experience that teaches students about the mindset and the skills needed for success by aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators who add value to any organization. In JA Think Like an Entrepreneur, students develop a mindset that enables opportunity identification, innovation, value creation, and problem solving. (Grades 9-12)
Through JA Excellence through Ethics, students will learn the importance of ethics and ethical decision-making and how ethical and unethical choices affect everyone in a community. (Grades 6-12) JA Excellence through Ethics is a 60- to 90-minute learning experience with additional optional activities.
This program is administered by JA of South Dakota
JA Invest for Your Future will provide high school students an opportunity to learn about investing, savings, retirement, time value of money, and how the stock market works.
JA It's My Job (Soft Skills) will help students understand the value of professional communication and soft skills, making them more employable to future employers across multiple career clusters. (Grades 6-12) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Launch Lesson is a point-of-entry program delivered by community entrepreneurs. Students gain firsthand knowledge about starting a business and the entrepreneurial journey. (Grades 9-12)
In JA Career Speakers Series, a volunteer guest speaker visits the classroom and shares information about his or her career, work, and education experience. (Grades K-12)
JA Career Success Blended Model is an engaging and comprehensive learning experience that introduces high school students to the workplace. As interns, students participate in realistic work experiences in multiple departments of a fictional company, Orbit Boom. The learning experience teaches soft skills and business best practices in the context of scenarios and assignments. The learning experience consists of seven 45-minute sessions and 10 optional sessions. (Grades 9-12)
JA Personal Finance allows students to experience the interrelationship between today’s financial decisions and future financial freedom. To achieve financial health and wellness, they learn about money-management strategies, including earning, employment and income, budgeting, savings, credit and debt, consumer protection, smart shopping, risk management, investing, credit card usage, debt management, and net worth. (Grades 9-12) The program consists of eight 45-minute sessions with 3 additional modular sessions.
Grades 9-12 - JA All About Cars introduces students to the essential costs related to buying and operating a first car, and offers tips on being a smart consumer when purchasing a vehicle.
JA Titan is a simulation-based program in which high school students compete as business CEOs in the phone industry, experiencing firsthand how an organization evaluates alternatives, makes decisions, analyzes the outcomes of those decisions, and then strategizes what to do next. (Grades 9-12) The blended model comprises 11 sessions that include tutorial sessions, game-play strategy sessions, a competition session, and deep dive sessions. Participants complete a minimum of 5 sessions, in any order. An optional event or in-class competition may be included.