JA BizTown is up and running!

On October 17th, the doors to JA BizTown opened for fifth graders at Tyler Run Elementary school in the Olentangy School District. Changes to the town include a new bank with teller stations, the Battelle Science Center, and pictured is the live news station. Interested in seeing more of JA BizTown? Come out and take a tour! Contact Shawnda Vega for details: svega@jacols.org or 614-771-9903 Ext. 21

JA Golf Classic

(Pictured: Pinnacle Golf Club the morning of the JA Golf Classic)

A fun time was had by all....at least AFTER the 10-minute down pour of rain!

Twenty-six local companies sponsored teams at this year's JA Golf Classic. Golfers enjoyed the beautiful greens at Pinnacle Golf Club, as well as skills competitions, raffles, and a buffet dinner. The ABS Business Products team took first place, and the Lennox Industries team took second.

Preparing for JA BizTown

In less than a month, students will enter the doors of JA BizTown to assume the roles of workers and consumers. They will run a bank, manage retail stores, write checks, read utility meters, vote, and more! Click on the picture to learn more about the program.

Pictured are Junior Achievement IT Manager Brian Preston and Director of JA BizTown Cheryl Dritz. They, along with JA BizTown Curriculum Director Jan Bambach, have been working hard to install new computers and program software as well as manage construction and program implementation.

JA Annual Meeting and Luncheon

More than 100 JA supporters attended the Annual Meeting and Luncheon last week. We reviewed the past year and announced how many students we reached, which was more than 29,000...a 9-percent increase from last year! We also had a chance to recognize individuals and companies who have gone above and beyond to help us throughout the years. Lastly, we set goals and planned for the upcoming school year. We are aiming to reach 33,000 central Ohio students during 2007-2008!

Pictured is JA Office Manager Geri Huygen and Auctioneer Peter Gehres who drew for raffle prizes at the end of lunch.

Another great week of camp!

Photo: CheckSmart Community Affairs Director Danielle Overmeyer is interviewed by the Summer Camp News Reporter.
Danielle Overmeyer was one of eight guests that toured camp at the end of June. The guests got to see 50 kids buzzing around the city--making products, enforcing laws, and cashing paychecks. The lucky attendees also received money to buy products from the businesses, things like paper weights, flower pens, and sports key chains. The employees in the businesses worked hard to make enough money to pay back their bank loan by the end of camp.

Summer Camp is Up and Running!

Photo: An Exchange City camper practices writing checks on the 2nd day of camp.

Exchange City Summer Camp is being held this week and next. We'll have about 50 kids here both weeks, and they run the city for an entire week. The campers have more time in the businesses than during the typical school field trip, so they get to explore extra things like making commercials, charitable giving, business decor, and more. If you want to check out the kids in action during camp, attend a tour session. E-mail me for times and details! svega@jacols.org

~Shawnda Vega

Director of Marketing and Communications

Getting into the 21st Century!

Junior Achievement of Central Ohio has been getting familiarized with the latest communication tools. It's amazing the different avenues there are to market and communicate JA's mission these days...e-newsletters, web-sites, myspace, and now a blog!

Through this blog, Junior Achievement hopes to keep you in the loop about upcoming events, volunteer needs, program successes, and more. We'll post photos as well as links related to JA.

Stay tuned!
~Shawnda Vega
Director of Marketing and Communications