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Arizona Civics Podcast
Welcome to the Arizona Civics Podcast. This podcast aims to share our journey of sustaining Arizona’s interests in reforms to civic education by working with civic educators in our state. This work is being done by the Center for American Civics at Arizona State University. I am your host, Liz Evans, Civic Education and Outreach Program Director at ASU, and I will interview Arizona teachers, content experts, and leaders in civic education. We hope you enjoy our journey to make Arizona a national civics model!
Arizona Civics Podcast
How Junior Achievement is Revolutionizing Career Readiness and Critical Thinking
Junior Achievement of Arizona provides free, standards-aligned curriculum to help students develop skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. Their programs are designed to make the lives of educators easier by offering flexible implementation options and bringing business professionals into classrooms to provide real-world context.
• Junior Achievement serves 180,000 learners across Arizona in approximately 400 schools, from kindergarten through post-secondary education
• Programs align with existing educational standards and can be delivered in various formats, from single-day experiences to semester-long curricula
• JA BizTown in Tempe allows students to run a simulated town economy for a day, including electing officials and managing businesses
• Critical thinking underpins all JA programs, helping students recognize assumptions and biases while developing analytical skills
• Research shows JA alumni earn more, report higher job satisfaction, and are more likely to start successful businesses
• New 3DE model integrates business case challenges directly into core subjects like math, science, and social studies
• Educators can learn more about programs and find solutions for their specific classroom needs at JAAZ.org
Visit JAAZ.org to explore program options filtered by grade level and learning environment, or learn about the new 3DE model at 3DESchools.org.
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welcome back to the Arizona civics podcast. I love meeting other civic educators in the state of Arizona and I got to meet Anne from junior achievement and we've had like three or four conversations. I feel like at this point, um, we have a lot, a lot in common as parents, but also you work with junior achievement, which I knew Junior Achievement when I taught, but things have kind of changed. So before we even get started, Anne, can you introduce yourself and let us know what Junior Achievement is?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm Annie Landers, the Chief Operating Officer of Junior Achievement of Arizona. We're a nonprofit that exists to prepare learners of really all ages to succeed in work and life, and along with that comes an understanding of future careers in the economy, comes knowing how to manage your money, knowing how to be a good citizen and a contributing member of society. So all the things that really lead to that successful path is kind of where our programs are focused.
Speaker 1:That is wonderful. So what does Junior Achievement do for Arizona educators? Like what is kind of that mission and vision of Junior Achievement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we partner with about 180,000 learners across the state. We give them those skills and we do that primarily through partnership with educators in about 400 schools, and those learners are ages kindergarten through adulthood. So really, if you're an educator who's looking in this space and you are looking for some solutions, it's highly likely we have something that's a fit for you. We provide a lot of content and curriculum and that is all free to educators and so it could be delivered by the teachers directly. We can help place some volunteers that have a similar or specific background in classroom settings. It can be delivered all in a single day as kind of like an in-school field trip, or it can be delivered once a week over several weeks. We have semester-long programming. Really, it's almost choose your own adventure. We have a solution that can help satisfy what you're looking for or what makes the most sense for the learners that are under your umbrella.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So who can partner with Junior Achievement? Like, does it have to be a district, does it have to be a whole school? Can it be a teacher? And then, where does Junior Achievement currently partner with learners?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So again, I hate to make it sound like we serve the world, but really we do. We have district-wide partnerships, so any district staff or admin that is interested. We also have a lot of teachers who have their unique focus under their specific students and their specific content area or grade level and we partner with them on an individual basis. We also partner with a lot of non-traditional educators, homeschool groups or groups that are involved, with those that are in foster care. We partner with students who are under state mandated education or perhaps just involved. There's all kinds of different types of learners that we and educators who are really passionate about those learners that we partner with Post-secondary also learners who are teaching in non-traditional environments, even like library programs and things along those lines. Again, we really try to create different resources and content and curriculum that will help satisfy whatever an educator is looking for to meet those long-term needs of their students.
Speaker 1:So one of the things you know, I think, that providers like you and I try to do is make educators' lives easier. We don't want programs or anything to be one more thing. We want it to be something that enriches their students while making educators' jobs easier. So how does Junior Achievements programs make educators' lives easier?
Speaker 2:year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm so glad you asked that.
Speaker 2:The way we kind of talk about what we do is almost as a solution provider, and really it's sometimes it's a thought partnership, and so maybe it takes an initial conversation about what, what are the needs, what are the solutions or the challenges you're facing and how might we help meet those needs.
Speaker 2:And so oftentimes it looks like our standards aligned free curriculum, content and curriculum. So imagine you give us, you're reaching a group of third graders and we say here's an off the shelf proven programming that has lesson plans and direction, or or if, and all the materials, I should say to all the student materials. But if we hear that you would prefer to have business community come in and deliver, that we'll help with that as well. And so our goal is not to say, hey, now you have new things that you have to tackle. There's, there's new standards that roll out, or there's refined standards or there's this is just an extra supplemental thing. No, the reality is we like to make sure that our program aligns to everything you already have to do and help check those boxes and do it in a way where the students are excited and engaged and it's tactile and it's energetic and it helps the students see what our educators are teaching and the relevancy of that to the real world connection for them one day.
Speaker 1:Hi, I love that you talked about business leaders, because I think that having people in your classroom with different types of experience really is what gets your kids excited, right? You're able to kind of open the door and introduce them to people within the community, but also introduce the community to your classroom, which those partnerships are so important. Yeah, so you talked about like third grade, right? One of the things that we at the Arizona Civics Podcast want to make sure is we're not just a podcast for high school social studies teachers, right? I think a lot of times people hear the term civics and they think a standalone course, and we believe that civics belongs everywhere, right? Even the little kids, even the big kids, even post-secondary. So what ages and grades does Junior Achievement have program? You've kind of alluded to this, but I want to make sure any listeners really understand that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we are passionate equal, you know, equally in meeting that passion there.
Speaker 2:We're passionate about the fact that learners are at different stages in their understanding of all these concepts, and so we have programs that are for students age kindergarten through post-secondary.
Speaker 2:The post-secondary is going to be more curated, based on what's being accomplished through their learning environment. But let me give you an example In second grade, when you talked about not just a high school civics class, in second grade our programs actually have the learners go through and they do a fun activity where they evaluate a school project that would help improve the campus or the community, and then they actually vote how they might put their tax dollars that they earned on a previous activity, how they might apply that for the aggregate gain of the school community. And they have some, you know, informal facilitated debate and they actually vote and they talk through their votes and they talk about the outcomes and they go through the disappointment if their choice wasn't selected and the celebration, and there's a whole bunch of elements to it that really scale up to what it looks like as an adult and being a contributing member. So that's a whole bunch of elements to it that really scale up to what it looks like as an adult and being a contributing member. So that's just an example.
Speaker 1:That's like practicing right. You're able to practice this skill because I'm thinking like, oh my gosh, like learning to vote right, and if my candidate doesn't win, like how do I deal with that disappointment? Or talking about how I think tax dollars in my community should be spent. I mean, starting that in second grade you're, they're just practicing the skill in an environment that allows them to practice and and to have these conversations kind of without um a grade. If you will, is that? I don't know if that's the right word.
Speaker 2:Being measured by it, it's more so just yeah, I you know.
Speaker 2:One of the things we talk often about, which I think goes hand in hand with every civics conversation you have, is the ability to think critically, and that's sometimes a buzzword, but really it's a practice skill that doesn't just automatically happen for any learner at any age. You have to put it into practice and you have to do it in all different types of ways. So that's a whole lot of what our programs do, regardless of the topic If they're, even when they're learning about how to manage money or they're exploring career paths, we're actually giving them some of those foundational skills and critical thinking that then parody over to any conversation you're having, whether it's a formal civics conversation or just knowing how to navigate divergent thinking. As an adult, you're able to draw on some of those critical skills that you learn, whether that's second grade or in high school or as a young adult's third junior achievement.
Speaker 1:Do you have any examples for high school? Because we talked a lot about elementary school, which I love, because elementary school teachers just have a really special place in my heart. But what about if I'm a high school teacher? What kind of programming do you have, or lessons?
Speaker 2:is that we have what we call our essential skills, credential. That really helps learners master six different competency areas, and all those competency areas really dovetail into civics and, for example, collaboration, cultural agility, communication, and so through some of those activities they're also gaining access to some analytical tools that help them evaluate where they might land on a particular issue or a topic, or even solve a work problem in the future. And so, whether that's as practical as looking at a decision tree or a two by two matrix, they're applying that in some of these programming to look at solving business problems, but also being able to say where do I stand on this particular topic. And it's different in that facilitated debate with some of their peers, how do I navigate that when I think differently about what my classmates might think about, or perhaps what I'm reading in the news, and being able to kind of decipher some of that. So that's what it looks like in a more advanced level, in the high school world or in second grade, they're still putting it into practice. It's just a little bit different.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that, because critical thinking and the ability to look at a business problem like I mean, I'm mid-career, I guess you could say, and I still do those things Like that is something that's evergreen, regardless of what job you have, right, because we all as adults have to do those things and I think that employers appreciate somebody who can come in with those critical thinking skills, or somebody who has come in and they can practice, you know, being in a team meeting and saying I disagree and here's why. And having those conversations because, again, they've already practiced in this laboratory that is their high school classroom.
Speaker 2:I was going to say I'd be remiss too if I don't mention our JA BizTown program and that's a program for kind of that middle section of learners, where they actually come and they run the town for the day and there is a mayor who runs the town, they actually vote on citizens of the day and various issues from a civic engagement standpoint. I think it also demonstrates and helps the students see how it's interwoven into every part of what we do, whether we realize it or not. So there's subtle and very overt opportunities for learners through the junior achievement programs.
Speaker 1:And is that the one that's in person, right, because you actually have somewhere that classes can go. Can you talk a little bit about that, because the first time you told me I was like I just kind of want to live there. Yeah, I mean, I agree.
Speaker 2:I love it when I go into that. So it's in Tempe. We have student sized towns we actually have two of them, so we can accommodate as many schools as possible and in the junior, the junior achievement biz town program, what happens is learners spend a variety of hours with their teachers in advance of their site visit where they are learning about all these concepts. They're learning about civics, they're learning about the economy, they're learning about work and building some of those skills they actually apply for their jobs and they get put into different teams where there's a CEO and CFO of every business and then all the jobs are relevant to the rest of the specific business they're in and they come running the town and the economy for the day and they're learning. Like I said, there's a mayor who's kind of the point person, who runs all the town meetings, who gets the day started, who introduces all the CEOs, and they actually run the town for the day and they put all those skills into practice.
Speaker 2:So it's not a field trip. Yes, the district may mark it as a field trip, check mark it as a field trip, but it's not a field trip, it's an experience. That is really that culmination, that capstone from what they've been learning in the classroom, turning that theory into practice, like we talk about. And then there's some processing activities and and it's one of those oftentimes our teachers come and after they've come for a few years they take advantage of all the extra supplemental lessons because they see how it layers into everything else they're teaching for the year and it takes on a whole life of its own. It's one of the best opportunities for those fourth, fifth and sixth graders in our state to come put it into practice.
Speaker 1:That sounds so cool. Is there a cost associated with that for?
Speaker 2:districts. So there is. We do have a student cost right now and we help subsidize our cost to run it of about $18 a student and I will say at face value.
Speaker 2:People hear that and they think, oh, that sounds like a lot. To be totally frank, districts have come to us and said we expected it to be more like $100 and $120 a student. We wish, but our job is to make it accessible. Right, we wish because we have to raise about $2 million a year to be able to provide that program specifically to learners. So it's a lot of hard work, but we're so passionate about the impact that we see throughBizTown and through all of our programs that that's what we're here for. That's our job is to help sustain it for the long term.
Speaker 1:I love that so much. So have we talked about all the other core topics that are integrated into junior achievements programs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the critical thinking really underpins everything that we do, but all of our programs are really rooted around career readiness and financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and so, as you can imagine, the civic side plays into all elements of all of those types of programming.
Speaker 1:So you're talking about helping learners think what does that mean for today's you Right, I think when I'm thinking about this question, I'm thinking about you know everything. They can look up chat, gtp or like they're on their phones or on the internet, and we really want to kind of shift that right and make sure that, yes, they're using these tools because they're awesome and they're you know, they're where our future lies, but also not at the expense of them thinking so how do you look at that? What does this mean for today's youth?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we like to think about this type of experience as, first and foremost, oftentimes helping them unthink or relearn how to think, looking at things like, for example, what assumptions or biases do we operate off of? Just intuitively, because that's how the human body has evolved to be successful and survive right. So how do we look at those assumptions and biases for what they are? And sometimes assumptions do help us evaluate, but how do we look at them in a way that allows us to be impartial? And so we help them with a variety of tools that oftentimes become second nature being able to think through OK. How do I assess whether that's an assumption or actually fact based? How do I look at?
Speaker 2:all the information that's out there and be able to evaluate. Is that accurate or is it in line with what I know to be true? Do I look at counter considerations. Do I look at this applies to everything, like we talked about the business world, their everyday life, whether that's civics or politics oriented.
Speaker 2:There's all kinds of things that this type of learning or this type of approach will help them evaluate the thinking that they're doing in their future. So it's really unwinding ways that they may have learned to think and helping them become not just a process thinker but an analytical thinker and then a thinker that helps them be productive as employees, part of the future workforce, leaders in their family and also, of course, contributing members of society as a whole.
Speaker 1:I love that. It sounds like we're looking at that from a lens of curiosity, right. What are my assumptions and biases? Especially if I'm looking at entrepreneurship and I want to have a business? It's actually really important for us to acknowledge what our assumptions and biases are, because it's going to be helpful to our business, right, and that whole unlearning process can be really fun, even as an adult. So, students, if you're listening to this, we're still doing this as adults. It's just part of being a human being.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all day, every day, I think about that and I think about the fact that some of the tenants that we help create some learning opportunities in around cultural agility.
Speaker 2:When you go into the workspace or when you're in adulthood, you're going to encounter all different types of people, and being able to figure out how best to check some of those assumptions and biases in a way that allows you to accomplish your goals, allows you to be the most successful that you want to be and ultimately, allows us to have the best working and productive society that we can have, is a really fun part for me about being able to think about. Not only am I unlearning that all the time, able to think about, not only am I unlearning that all the time, but also helping influence what that looks like for youth at a younger age, so that they don't have to encounter some of the roadblocks or missteps that I made or that perhaps you made or every other adult around us has made. We're going to help them have some. It's almost like a cheat code for them, right, and what kid doesn't love a cheat code when it comes to getting somewhere faster?
Speaker 1:right, a thousand percent. So if you were to give like a quick elevator pitch of what the impacts of junior achievement or using junior achievement in your classroom, in your district, are, what would that be?
Speaker 2:So from the educator lens, I'm going to take a twofold. From the educator lens, we know that our students actually are more engaged in the learning experience ongoing, not just through the Junior Achievement Program but for content, cte programs. They're more engaged because they see that real world connectivity and relevancy. We also know that in some of our more advanced programs we're seeing a decrease in absenteeism, increase in sense of belonging in school culture. There's a whole bunch of components that are really attractive, of course, on the educator's side, because also one of those things that are not barriers anymore and teachers get back to their original purpose of why they entered the field. Who wouldn't want to do that right? From the student lens, we track our alumni data across the country every few years and we see really, really profound impacts. We see that our learners learn, our JA alumni learn more or earn more.
Speaker 1:Forgive me they earn more.
Speaker 2:We see that they are more satisfied in their future careers. We see that we have learners who are more likely to start a business and employ more than 100 people and generate more than $10 million in revenue every year. We see that our learners are more likely to get some form of advanced degree, whether that's graduates or even with trade and certificate programs. So we know that by supporting what teachers are doing in the classroom, by again creating that relevancy and creating this foundational knowledge for these learners, we're sending them on the path to future success that is like that impact is incredible.
Speaker 1:I'm like I know this is an audio podcast, but I feel like my jaw was just like hanging open because it's. I mean, that's what we want as educators, right? We want things that are impactful and improving and that, like that, is more than impactful improvement. So what's next for junior achievement? Like, what do you guys have coming down the pipeline?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so for over 70 years in Arizona 100 years across the country we've been supporting teachers and educators through supplemental in-class programming. Of course it's mostly most of it's free. It's all standards aligned, so it helps check those boxes. One of the things that we're seeing, though, over the last decade, and where we're actively getting involved now, is how can we take that proven impact and help impact change at the system level within education and within our workforce efforts, and so we've actually launched a new integrated instructional model that is interdisciplinary. It layers in business case challenges in real time for the learning experience so that we take all these things that we just talked about here and we embed them into math and into ELA and into science and social studies and CTE, so that learners keep that connectivity at every step of the way, and it reinforces all the really passionate core content that students are learning and helps them understand how that's going to matter in their adult life, and it answers that. Why question before the learners even have to ask it.
Speaker 2:So, that's where we are today is we're moving into and launching a new instructional model. We have our first two schools here in Arizona starting on August 4th and we have aggressive plans to expand that to about eight to 10 comprehensive public high schools in Arizona within the next five years and then we'll roll down into the middle school learning experience and create that continuum of learners coming and participating in junior achievement from kindergarten all the way through adulthood. How can we change the way that we're learning and educating as a whole?
Speaker 1:I love that. So if I'm an educator and I'm listening to this, I'm like this is really interesting. What would be my next step?
Speaker 2:So the model is called 3DE. It stands for three-dimensional education, where the intersection of junior achievement and the education system and workforce business. So check out 3DESchoolsorg or visit our local website, JAAZorg, and you can learn all about that model. Also at JAAZorg is all of the programs that we have on our website so that you can look and you can filter based on who you are, what grade level, what type of learning environment you're in and what would meet the needs of your learners, and then have a conversation with us.
Speaker 1:I love that, annie. Thank you so much Again. I know we've had multiple conversations, but I'm so excited for listeners to hear this because you know and I had shared with you, the whole reason we're doing this podcast is we're just trying to make sure that educators have everything that they need, and this makes me wish that, when I was a middle school educator for 13 years, that I had been introduced to this, because I think sometimes, as educators, there's so much out there and it gets so overwhelming until we hear what can this do and how can this benefit my students. It doesn't really click. So thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us Listeners. I will put all of these websites and their socials too, in our show notes if you are interested. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much.
