Junior Achievement Teaches SouthCoast Students Skills Most Adults Learn Too Late

This week's Southcoast Health Community Spotlight shines on Jeff Pelletier, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts. His organization reaches thousands of SouthCoast kids every year, sharing life skills that most of us wish we had picked up a lot sooner.

"On any given year we're in front of four to six thousand young people all across the region," Pelletier said.

That reach runs from pre-kindergarten students all the way to 16-to-24-year-olds entering higher education and the workplace.

What Does Junior Achievement Teach?

The mission comes down to three areas: financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career readiness.

"Really at the core of our mission, we're just looking to help young people get to where they want to go in their career, in their educational career, in their life," Pelletier said.

LISTEN TO JEFF PELLETIER ON THE MGM SHOW:

The most popular Junior Achievement topics are the ones that are appreciated most by adults, who can really recognize how important these skills are in life.

"We do a lot of the work that once you're out of school and adult, you're like, gosh, that's really important to understand financial literacy, to understand thinking about your career and thinking about how does that match with my interests and my skills," Pelletier said.

The entrepreneurship piece matters just as much in what Pelletier called a moment of eliminating ceilings for young people. Students learn they can chase an idea and even build a business of their own.

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In School and Out of School

The bulk of the work happens during the school day through partnerships with districts. Junior Achievement also runs its own youth workshops in New Bedford and Fall River outside of school hours.

Pelletier said the results show up fast. Many young people from their 16-to-24 group who were facing challenges now hold full-time jobs with benefits. They have career tracks and live in their own places. Middle and high school students have used their time with JA to settle on a college major and worked on their college applications and essays..

"It's about the individual, but it's about our community, too," Pelletier said, pointing to economic development, education and workforce development across the region.

How Can a School Get Involved

Schools interested in bringing Junior Achievement programs to their students can start at jasouthernma.org.