JA Programs
All JA curriculum is listed below. If desired, you can filter by first selecting a grade level, then a pathway.
Learn How You Can VolunteerJA 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)
JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular learning experience allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. Students are able to connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world. (Grades 4-6)
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 Company Program® empowers high school students to fill a need or solve a problem in their community and teaches them practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business venture. (Grades 9-12)
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)
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.
JA Finance Park® Virtual includes a virtual culminating experience for students who have completed the educator-led curriculum. Students put into practice what they've learned by developing and committing to a personal budget. The JA Finance Park Virtual simulation has been fully redeveloped, with a brand-new experience that offers two implementation options: entry level for middle school students and advanced for high school students. (Grades 7-12)
JA Inspire® Entry is more than a career fair. It brings together the business community and local schools and is designed to help launch middle school students into their future - high school, postsecondary education, and careers beyond. The program consists of three segments: (1) pre-event career-oriented sessions; (2) the JA Inspire event, and (3) a post-event reflection. The JA Inspire event (in-person, virtual, or both) provides students a powerful way to learn about real-world career opportunities and their local economy. Education Level: Middle School
JA It’s My Future® offers middle school students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students explore career resources to develop the 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.
JA Job Shadow® is a comprehensive experience that helps students design an individualized career path. Supporting blended as well as self-guided activities, JA Job Shadow provides a design-thinking structure for career exploration. (Grades 9-12) The program includes six 45-minute sessions and two opportunities for site visits with flexible implementation options based on local needs.
The JA Miss Business Experience inspires young women to develop the executive mindset and encourages them to seek meaningful and dynamic leadership careers.
JA Our City® introduces third-grade students to financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and grade-level social studies learning objectives, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city. (Grade 3) LEARNING EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS -- A flexible model designed to support multiple learning environments -- Five 45-minute sessions -- Experiential, engaging in-class activities that support learning objectives, including digital and physical board games, mapping activities, and role-plays -- School-to-home activities that extend the lessons from the classroom to students’ families and their own communities -- Elementary-appropriate content in financial literacy with entrepreneurship woven throughout -- A fun sing-along video to get students up and moving in the classroom, while reinforcing financial literacy concepts.
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 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 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) JA Our Nation offers flexible implementation options to meet the needs of students and teachers in a variety of use cases. It includes five 45-minute sessions and one optional supplemental session, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
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) JA Our Region offers flexible implementation options to meet the needs of students and teachers in a variety of use cases. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
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) JA Ourselves offers flexible implementation options to meet the needs of students and teachers in a variety of use cases. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
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.
Through JA Take Stock in Your Future®, students discover the benefits and challenges of investing in the stock market as part of a broader, long-term investment strategy and the risks and rewards of trading. (grades 9-12) The program includes five 45- minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout, including an optional online or site-based JA Stock Market Challenge competition.
JA Tools for Success® is recommended for middle school students. The five self-guided modules can be integrated during or after implementation of other JA learning experiences or used independently. (Grades6-8)
