'Twas the Night Before Bills were Due. . .

Twas the night before bills were due, and all through the house

All the creatures were stirring, especially my spouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

Paid for by credit cards, the money was scarce.

The children weren’t nestled, they heard all the noise,

Of our panicking about our not-so-Christmas joys.

“What will we do?” I said, “How will we pay?”

“I’m not sure, but let’s worry after Christmas day.”

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

We all looked out the window to see what was the matter.

Away to the window we all flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

There stood a little old man we at once recognized,

Our high school JA volunteer, who back then we despised.

He taught us that spending was better done if you saved,

And that going to college was, at the time, all the rave!

Back then we thought, “Who could give up four years of our lives?” 

We would much rather spend money while flipping burgers and fries!

At once we thought, “Oh no! He found out we never heard!

And has come back to teach us again, to repeat his words!”

He spoke about CD’s, about interest and waiting,

He talked about economy and consolidating.

He looked over our bills and with one shake of his head,

He began writing up a plan, we wished we were dead.

We knew we needed to get out of this mess,

But his plan made us spend less, less and LESS.

He told us this was important life knowledge,

And some people never get it, even if they go to college.

He promised us if I abode by his plan,

That I would be debt-free and feel like a new woman!

My family and I decided right then,

That we agree, that we would listen.

We asked our kids if JA was in their class.

They said it was, and it wasn’t a task!

They loved learning about their community and global market trading,

That when saving for something, they didn’t mind waiting.

My spouse and I looked at each other in wonder,

If only we had listened then, we could have skipped this blunder.

Our JA volunteer told us we would be okay,

If we would promise to begin today!

As he sprang to his car, and he waved goodbye,

We thanked him for the lessons he taught us that night.

I heard him exclaim as he was driving away,

“Don’t thank me, go thank JA!”

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE STAFF AT JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF UTAH!

The 2011 Thankful Blog

I am certain every blog in this cyber universe will be about some form of gratitude this week.  If you are like me, you have already had those moments in your day where you pause to reflect on your own personal gratitude list without even meaning to.  There is just something special about this time of year when the leaves fall, you watch your breath when speaking outdoors, hot chocolate, coats and scarves and knowing that Thanksgiving is only three days away; it gives you those tender moments.  I watched my children play this weekend and thought about their sweet little lives and how happy and care free they are.  One of them was ill, and it made me grateful for my health and their health and for how much I take it for granted when we are well.  My children make me understand why my parents always told me to stay young and enjoy my youth for as long as possible.

My life now obviously isn’t as simple as it was when I was young.  I now have bills to pay, a mortgage to keep up with, deadlines, and children of my own that need time, attention and preparation.  I think of how my parents prepared me for this future that I am now living in.  They always taught me to go to college.  That wasn’t an “if you go to college” in my home growing up, it was a “when.”  My father was very financially savvy and opened my siblings and my bank accounts when we were very young and taught us that saving was always the best policy.  I feel like the home I was raised in was my own personal Junior Achievement sanctuary, in which I am of course grateful for. 

I realize that I was not quite raised like the majority of my friends and associates.  Most of them didn’t have the financial guru father that I had and Junior Achievement was definitely not in my elementary or middle school at the time.  Many of my friends now have lost homes, declared bankruptcy or have more credit card debt than they know what to do with.  Much of this is due to the poor economy, however, I feel very fortunate that I have not had to experience one of those three nightmare situations. 

This time of year I am very thankful for a program that not only teaches my children how to save money, but helps them make wise decisions in preparing for their future.  Junior Achievement teaches our children and youth the value and importance of free-enterprise, a college education, workforce readiness, financial literacy and much more.   

I know one thing we as humans share in common is that we all want great leaders for our future.  When we are older, our children’s generation and their children’s generation will be taking care of our needs and some of our financial decisions.  The last thing I want is for those leaders to be uneducated in the areas that will influence my life.  Junior Achievement is a solution to educate these future leaders while they are young.  It is crucial that when these kids head off to college they have the knowledge necessary to keep them wise and maybe a little more focused.   Isn’t that something that we all wished we had when we were younger? 

This Thanksgiving, during our personal moments of reflection, as we pause and give thanks in our hearts for the things we hold dear, think about our children’s future.  Think about the short time they are young and then thrust into the world to make adult decisions on their own when sadly, our opinions may not matter as much to them anymore.  I add Junior Achievement to my gratitude list this year, thankful that there is something out there that will help fill in the gaps of readying my children where I may fall short.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!             

Why Should you Bowl for Junior Achievement?

Why on earth would anyone wake up early on a Saturday morning, put on their sombrero and poncho, grab a guitar and head to the bowling alley?  The 2012 "Nacho Ordinary" Bowl-a-Thon is the answer and is about to begin!  I can't think of another event where families and employees have more fun while raising money for a great cause!  This is Junior Achievement's largest annual fundraiser, bringing in over $300,000, and you and your company is invited to participate.

This has been a long-standing tradition for many companies who create bowling teams made up of employees and their families.  They raise money by holding employee bake-sales, pot-lucks, car washes, selling "JA School Houses" and "Dress Down Day stickers," mail vendors request letters asking for donations, have company parties and pep rallies, and so much more.

The day of the bowl-a-thon is an absolute party.  Prizes, music and contests are just some of the fun and entertainment provided to give your staff the ultimate JA Bowl-a-Thon!  My personal favorite, of course, is the dressing up.  Through the years I have dressed up as a 50's girl, a pirate, Victoria from Twilight, Britney Spears, a cowgirl, a cheerleader, a sailor and Janet Jackson.  I am sure there are even more but I have done it so many times I can't remember.  (I can't WAIT to give Lady Gaga a try sometime)    

I also appreciate any event that allows children to participate.  As a mother of young children, I want to enrich their lives to the fullest with experiences that will help them learn and grow.  I want to give them an understanding of how important it is to help people and organizations.  My children always volunteer the day of the event by blowing up balloons, passing out "gutter ball prizes" and making sure all the other children are having fun, and have a friend.  I have never seen participants leave without smiles on their faces.

Signing up is simple!  Call Karen at (801) 355-5252 x 8203.  She will love to make sure your company has in on all the fun that lies ahead.  And, don't forget the tagline. . .You'll need a siesta after this fiesta! 

Oh What Fun our Future is to Plan

When I was growing up, my favorite Parade Magazine issue was the annual "What We Earn."  I always looked for my fellow Utahans before the others.  I would get so excited to see the different career paths.  There were so many choices . . . like those school teachers who made all that money.  The people featured all had one thing in common, big smiles on their faces.  I could tell they all loved the career they had chosen whether they made $20 thousand or $120 thousand.  It gave me a sense of excitement and anticipation of what I would be when (or if) I grew up.  I still look forward to that magazine issue, and am sure you do too because we are all interested in our future, our children's futures, and let's be honest, the issue is just fun!

As I was looking over a similar article this morning, (not nearly as fun because there aren't real people's pictures and ages and hello, do I make that little of pay REALLY???) I got my usual Junior Achievement monologue going in my head.  (Once I make you a JA believer, you will have JA analogies, monologues and all sorts of JA fun happen to you too!)  JA is built upon three pillars:  entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness.  Click here for a quick JA summary.

We all  have needs, you know the food, clothing and shelter we learned about when we were little, and we need a career that will help us maintain those needs.   This isn't rocket science, in fact, it is first grade JA.  I love these fun articles because they help us understand if our dreams are feasible financially or not.  My dream of sitting at home all day, eating an entire bag of chocolate chips while sitting at my laptop (okay it was only a half bag, but full bag sounds so much more dramatic) came true.  Our students in first grade learn to choose careers that will facilitate their needs and their wants.  HOW ABOUT THAT?  I love it!  By 5th grade, they visit JA City and are adults for a day.  They learn that different positions within a company earn different incomes and how hard working in the business world really is.  By 8th grade in Finance Park they experience a real-life situation with bills, a family, a mortgage and how to make those ends meet.  (Even I am still working on that. . .back to 8th grade for me!)

Our JA students can look at these fun Parade articles and make decisions for their future because they are already one step ahead.  One day I hope I see some of the incredible JA students I have met, featured in one of those articles as a school teacher, nurse, computer programmer, etc, with of course, nothing but a big smile on their face.   

Click here for the not as fun as Parade article" I stumbled on (but is still a little fun).

Seriously, Why Wasn't I Like Her When I Was 18. . . Our 2011-2012 L. Dean Rees Scholarship Recipient Announced

Each September at JA's annual Board Retreat, we give our "L. Dean Rees Scholarship" recipient with their award money.  Our 2011-12 winner is Danielle Maxfield, a freshman at the University of Utah; she graduated from East High School in June.  I was so impressed with her speech, I asked her for a copy that I could add to our blog.  Please read her speech to see how Junior Achievement is changing lives everyday.

L. Dean Rees was JA's greatest volunteer.  He volunteered at Taylorsville High School for over 12 years and helped facilitate the bowl-a-thon at Savage Industries before he passed away in 2004.  We are proud to have this scholarship in his name.  Please read Danielle's speech below.  

Danielle Maxfield's speech

Given September 15, 2011

I want to begin by telling you how my experience began with Junior Achievement. I attended Bennion Elementary.  When I was in fourth grade, I remember having three individuals from Junior Achievement come in and talk to my class, two women and one man. I remember that the women were beautiful in their pencil skirts and fancy clothes. The man looked so nice in his pin-striped shirt. I was just in awe as I looked at these gorgeous adults.  I also remember hearing about how I should save money, get an education, and gain an occupation so that I could become like them.  I hung onto their every word. Throughout that week, kids asked lots of questions like, "What car do you drive" and "how much money do you make?"  Bennion Elementary School is a Title-One school. There were many minorities who hadn't seen people like this before, because most of their parents worked 3 jobs a day and couldn't afford to look like them. The fact that these volunteers would take time out of their busy lives was a huge deal. Later on, they spoke to us about honesty and how by being honest in everything we did we would come out on top and have greater success than we would otherwise. If we were honest, we could have the success they had. They eventually left, and after a few weeks I was taking a test and one of the coolest girls in school asked me for an answer to a question on the test. Even though I knew it would be wrong, I wanted to tell her the answer so badly.  I thought, 'maybe if I cheat, I can just be cool.' I wasn't very cool in elementary, actually I wasn't very cool in Junior High or High School either, but I wanted to tell her the answer so I would have the chance to be cool. Then I remembered the three people who came to my class, who had become my heroes. I thought 'if I cheat and lie, than I will not only be letting go of my integrity, I will be letting them down.' I didn't cheat.  I went on with my life not being very cool. I never became cool, but I was honest, and knew that someday I would end out on top. I didn't know when, but I knew it would happen because that's what the volunteers said.

Utah's Entrepreneur Day Features Junior Achievement

Since it seems that each American Idol contestant gets their own "day" declared by their Governor for being "somebody for the moment," it only makes sense to create an official day that actually means something.  Governor Herbert declared September 29, 2011, "Utah Entrepreneurship Day."  I think this is a tremendous idea (no, not just because I work for Junior Achievement, or advocate for it, well, okay, maybe that is part of it) because I think getting young minds to think early, dream big and realize their dreams can be accomplished with enough awareness.  The thought of that gets me excited for our future leaders (insert arm chills).  Here are two links that highlight the event: 

http://business.utah.gov/whyutah/education/eday/
http://www.pilmerpr.com/blog/

I want my own children to know that what they want is possible with hard work, dedication, the right amount of schooling and classes, etc.  Now, with that said, I not only want that for my children, I want that for every child, because I believe in it.  I feel, that if we can get enough people to believe in it, then that is when change will happen.  People will volunteer for Junior Achievement, and other organizations to teach these kids the fundamentals of what they will need to learn and how to prepare.

In life, it only takes that one person to change our point of view (in most cases).  My role model was Amanda Dickson, the radio announcer, who taught my pre-law class in college at age 20.  My pre-law class stayed "pre-law" because I never continued on, but that is a story for another day.  She made me want to work harder and be somebody.  Think of your mentor, or the person who made you want to be somebody or do something.  Now, think of a child that you could be that "somebody" for and teach them.  Way to go Governor Herbert, to celebrate not only our fantastic Utah Entrepreneurs, but to give our future entrepreneurs a hope and that one spark that they may need to begin working toward their dream.  There go those arm chills again.  

Take a moment to review our National Survey, and WHY I LOVE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT!

Why do I love Junior Achievement so much and why am I such an advocate?  I love Junior Achievement because it works.  Junior Achievement USA released their “Free Enterprise National Survey: Viewpoints from U.S. High School Juniors” this week. 

While reading the statistics and viewpoints in this survey, I realized our high school students live in a completely different world than I did when I graduated nearly 15 years ago.  The economy has been in a poor state for the majority of their adolescent lives.  They have witnessed extreme layoffs, high unemployment rates and college graduates not finding work, forcing them to examine other alternatives regarding their future.  This survey states, “Juniors are concerned about the economic outlook.  Almost all juniors are worried about being able to get a good job when they finish school and many believe that the job market will be somewhat or very bad.” 

This is where Junior Achievement comes in to play.  We teach and excite students with JA’s award winning programs about higher education, free-enterprise and entrepreneurship.  Jack Kosakowski, JA’s President stated, “Knowledge of the free enterprise system, its benefits to citizens and its relationship to job creation is important for young people across the nation, to the vitality of our communities and to the availability of a well-educated workforce.  We must continue to expand these programs in an effort to educate our future leaders. “ 

When I was a Junior in high school, I was barely beginning to think about my future.  I took school seriously but wanted to focus on my friends and the life of a teenager.  Career choices popped in and out of my head every now and then.  College choices could be determined in a year; why should I be bothered at only age 16?  As far as free-enterprise and entrepreneurship were concerned, I was completely oblivious.  I think it is safe to say that most adults today wish they would have been better educated with more options regarding their future before they arrived at one of those imperative choice making crossroads.  This is why I love Junior Achievement.  It gives children the opportunity to have ideas, thoughts and even in some cases, decisions, before they reach those ever-looming crossroads.

This survey shows that 16 year-olds across our nation are being taught and prepared.  The more educated people are about Junior Achievement, the more they understand its vitality in the classroom.  Please take a moment and review our national survey by clicking here.

Only 27 Percent of Utah Students Ready for College?

I just read this article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52398679-78/utah-college-act-students.html.csp

My ACT score wasn't incredible, non-incredible enough that I won't even share it.  One thing that comes to mind, however, is that I also did not have Junior Achievement K-12.  I did have JA my senior year, after I had already taken the ACT.  Although JA doesn't have math, english, and science curriculum, it is all based on work-readiness.  I learned more about what I wanted to do and be when I "grew up" in my JA class than I learned in many of my generals in my college years.  I wonder how I would have felt had I had JA more than one semester my senior year.  I strongly feel that when a child is taught JA Kindergarten through their senior year in high school, they will be, as this article in the SL Trib calls, "college ready." 

Junior Achievement teaches students to prepare for college by working hard in school and outside of school, and creative ways to save their money so they can become financially secure in their future.  JA has many programs that are teaching our young people every day to help them prepare for college.  We need more than 27 percent of our seniors to be "college ready" by getting JA into more classrooms. . .or by getting more ACT study guides in our high schools.

Please click the link below to learn more about JA in your area.

http://www.ja-utah.org/  

The JA Umbrella Irony

Our annual JA Golf Classic was this morning. . . well sort of.  In a state where it has probably only rained on August 1 a handful of times, it rained today, no DOWNPOURED!  (Secretly, I think it is because we had amazing umbrella "SWAG" to hand out to our golfers and they needed a reason to use them!)  Next year, we will be handing out sunscreen, hats and fans!  The new Golf Classic will be held on September 26, 2011 at Oakridge Country Club.