You need a challenge? How about a day in a Kindergarten class, and you are the teacher. John Box, staff member at Junior Achievement's global headquarters in southwest Colorado Springs, could only murmur "attention span" as he sat on the small chair and tried to engage his 18 active youngsters.

John and 30 of his coworkers spent Friday at Stratton Meadows Elementary conducting the second annual "JA in a Day" event. Usually a single Junior Achievement (JA) volunteer leads one JA class for 30-45 minutes once a week. Today, the staffers/volunteers presented JA age-appropriate programs to sixteen classes and approximately 400 students for the entire morning. Ken Wasoba, President of Junior Achievement of Southern Colorado, noted, "JA in a Day events are a great way for our headquarters associates to connect with students in the communities in which they live and work."

JA programs focus on three areas: entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy. My personal favorite is financial literacy. Colorado high schools (unfortunately in my view) have no educational standards in personal finance (28 states do but only nine do testing). JA helps fill the gap, but given the poor state of financial awareness in the adult population of this country, more needs to be done. Stratton Meadows Elementary Principal Jeanette Garcia is delighted to have JA for a day. "It really gets the kids excited." She also notes, "It is important to include financial literacy as part of the curriculum in our schools. I believe 8th grade would be the opportune starting point."

JA has a both in-school and after school courses. Elementary, Middle School and High Schools all benefit from JA programs. Volunteers are always needed. Want to get involved in something real life, something challenging which will have an impact for generations? Be a Junior Achievement volunteer - call Laura Crawford 719 636-2474 x25.