Sara Dziuk, President and CEO of Junior Achievement North, spoke on May 29th. Sarah has been the CEO for six years. JA itself has been in the community for 73 years and the North region is the largest region geographically serving Minnesota, North Dakota, and Western Wisconsin.
Sara began her presentation by acknowledging and applauding mentors. Mentorship is at the heart of what Junior Achievement (JA) does to create learning experiences for young people and help educators meet their classroom goals.
She asked everyone to think back to elementary school and the job we wanted to have. Most would say that the jobs they wanted then were informed by what they saw every day; the professions their parents were in or teachers who played an influential role in their lives. What JA does is expose young people to so much more than what is close to them. JA wants students to see opportunities and know what is available to them.
Junior Achievement North does its work with the assistance of 8,000 volunteers every year. One of their most successful programs is BizTown. It’s an in-person experience that provides an opportunity to run a city, understand the importance of voting, do budgeting, and learn about important life lessons like managing credit cards. It is a learning accelerator where students come to understand resiliency and develop persuasion skills.
Another important initiative is the 3DE model which helps develop essential competencies such as critical thinking, creativity and innovation, communication, collaboration, cultural agility, and self-direction. It has proven results – 22% less absenteeism, 34% increased graduation, and 56% higher college enrollment. And it has driven educator engagement as well, with participating teachers having a 96% retention rate.
Junior Achievement North receives the largest Club 9 grant of the year at $15,000, which allows them to work with students across Minneapolis schools. The Rotary Club of Minneapolis thanks Sara Dziuk for her presentation and is grateful to be supporting an organization that is truly making a difference.