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Ed Grenier
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President and CEO
Junior Achievement of the
National Capital Area
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Tough times often uncover important needs that may otherwise remain in the background. The turmoil of the financial markets is rippling through our economy, seriously impacting people from all walks of life. The calling from this unrest is clear — the time has come to ensure that all members of our society are financially literate.
For Junior Achievement, this means equipping our young people with the core financial knowledge necessary to live out their dreams. It means providing opportunities for our youth, and the financial tools necessary to envision a future full of their own creations and contributions. It means, quite simply, continuing what we do best — preparing and inspiring young people to succeed in the global economy.
With the full support of the community, together we can ensure that their futures are bright and full of promise.
Our busiest season in the classroom is right now - please consider joining us as we change lives, one by one. Sign up to become a classroom volunteer!
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Parent Tip:
Take some time each month with your child to discuss how your family manages its monthly income to pay
bills and saves for the future. Familiarize your child with the family's fixed expenses
(rent / mortgage / transportation) and the variable expenses (utilities / groceries). To learn more about
budgeting, visit the Junior Achievement Student Center and explore the
Plan Your Finances section.
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April marked the launch of Junior Achievement's Vote YES for Financial Literacy Annual Campaign. The need
has never been greater for a financially literate society. Your support will help prepare the young people
of our Region to enter adulthood able to manage their own finances. Please consider a gift of any size.
We invite you to Vote YES at www.myJA.org/voteyes today!
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United States Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral kicked off Financial Literacy Month (April) at Junior Achievement's
Board of Directors Annual Retreat. The Treasurer complimented Junior Achievement's leadership role in financial
education, saying that "JA provides the tools today's youth need to evaluate and understand fiscal options,
such as budgeting, balancing a checkbook, understanding interest rates and mortgages ... important life skills!"
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Did You Know?
Americans' average personal savings rate recently dropped into negative numbers. The last time that
the national savings rate was negative was in 1932 and 1933 – during the Great Depression.
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Junior Achievement hosted Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill on April 28th, along with
partners Jump$tart Coalition and the National Council on Economic Education. Senators and Members
of Congress gathered to draw attention to the importance of financial literacy education.
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President Bush recently invited Junior Achievement to serve on the newly formed President's Advisory Council
on Financial Literacy. As one of 14 organizations invited to participate, Junior Achievement will work closely
with Council Chair Charles Schwab and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to devise recommendations on how to better
educate Americans about matters pertaining to their finances, with a specific emphasis on improved financial
education for youth. For more information, please visit the
Advisory
Council on Financial Literacy website.
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The National Financial Literacy Challenge just launched in high schools in the Greater Washington
Region and across the country. The Challenge measures the financial literacy of America's high school
students through a 35-question online test. Students may participate by taking the Challenge through
May 16th. Winners will be recognized at the June 8th meeting of the President's Advisory Council on
Financial Literacy in Washington, DC.
Learn more at the National Financial Literacy
Challenge website. This Challenge was developed by the U.S. Treasury in consultation with Junior Achievement,
the National Council on Economic Education, the National Endowment for Financial Education,
and the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.
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Greater Washington – Why it's the Best Region to Build and Grow a Business is the topic of the recently
announced $110,000 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. The competition is sponsored by David M. Rubenstein,
Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, and will award one $20,000 prize and nine $10,000 prizes
in December 2008. For more details about this competition, please visit
http://www.myJA.org/students/essay/.
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Capital One/Junior Achievement Finance Park completed another successful pilot this spring, providing
experiential financial education to more than 2,000 8th grade students in Fairfax County. Finance Park was
created by Junior Achievement to help seventh- and eighth-graders gain a realistic understanding of financial
issues by combining Junior Achievement classroom instruction with an interactive mobile life-simulator. For
more information, please contact Amy Marcenaro Heckman, Vice President, Education, Strategic Partnerships, &
Public Affairs, at 202-777-4479 or
Amy.MarcenaroHeckman@JA.org.
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Our Annual Spring Bowl-A-Thon scores a strike! Special thanks to Saturday Strike Fever's presenting sponsors,
ABC7/WJLA-TV, Capital One, and KPMG LLP, to
our
other Bowl sponsors, and to the 2,000 bowlers who contributed to our success. If you want to have a summer
family outing, an intern party, or just want to have fun, think about bowling for Junior Achievement. For more information,
please contact Kimberly Denis, Senior Director, Development, at 202-777-4472 or
Kimberly.Denis@JA.org.
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Today Junior Achievement named Eric Knudson and Jim Liu the winners of the 5th Annual Youth Entrepreneur
of the Year Award for co-founding Serve It Up Tennis, LLC. This Award recognizes young people in the
Greater Washington Region who embrace the entrepreneurial spirit through starting and running a successful
business. Serve It Up Tennis provides affordable tennis lessons at local public courts in Montgomery County,
MD and the District of Columbia. Eric and Jim will be honored for their successes at the Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Award Banquet on June 19. For more information, please visit For more information, please visit
www.serveitup.org and
www.myJA.org/students/yeoty/.
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