Students who participate in the Leadership Success Skills Program become eligible for many JA scholarships annually. This course has been taught in several classes at Chugiak. In the spring of 2000 it was introduced to the Consumer Economics course as a hands-on learning experience with community members presenting in the classroom and walking students through the basic three elements of Leadership Success Skills: 1) Building Rapport, 2) Influencing Others, and 3) Teamwork. The culminating project for students to practice their skills of interviewing, building resumes, and preparing for the world of work is an actual mock job interview, which has been given on a volunteer basis by members of the Eagle River Rotary Club, another one of our school business partners. Students learn about the basics of running a business, work ethics, team cooperation, effective communication skills, resume building, job shadows, and interviewing techniques. Last spring our newly piloted Transitions class also became involved in the presentations on Leadership Success Skills and this year’s second and third quarter groups have also been involved in JA presentations as an important part of career exploration.
Janet Craig, Senior Program Manager of Junior Achievement, has successfully arranged speakers and presenters from many different businesses to work with our students. She has also helped connect us more closely with many of our school business partners and other community members through the JA Leadership Success Skills Program.
I called her about a month ago to let her know that I would be submitting our partnership for the Best Practices booklet because I still think she and her organization should be recognized for a job well done. Janet is always very professional and she comes through every time with new partners and community business volunteers to help teach the JA Leadership Success Skills Program. Junior Achievement and Janet Craig can always be counted on to help connect students with the business world. Chugiak High students have met business professionals from Providence Health Systems, Nordstrom, Safeway-Eagle River, Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union, Eagle River WalMart, Aeromap, Sears, and Eagle River Rotary Club. Students learn about what school business partners are and what they do in schools and what schools do for them. Several students have been hired by these partners after they interviewed well and expressed interest during the classroom presentations. Networking has become a reality for this group of students and they can actually discover how it works through the JA Program. |
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Junior Achievement and Janet Craig have an exceptional commitment to their partnership with Chugiak High. This business partner has connected learning opportunities for students and provided professional enhancement for students, staff, and community members. We look forward to many more years of working with one of our most actively involved partners at CHS and thank them for their dedication to education of our young people.
Janet Craig of Junior Achievement |
Discussions were held during the fall of 1998 between Janet Craig and Terry Sliter of JA and Valerie Ekberg Brown, teacher at Chugiak High School. The focus of the talks was to enhance opportunities for students to connect with community members in the business world. The original proposal was to connect with and train representatives of Sears and Aeromap, two of the school’s new business partners, to teach the JA Leadership Success Skills Program to the Chugiak Russian students, and to assist with arrangements for the teaching of this program to visiting Russian exchange students. The actual partnership agreement was signed in March 1999 and has been ongoing. Many other similar JA programs have been expanded into other classes on an as requested basis. |
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