Hundreds take part in JA kickoff rally

More than 100 students from public high schools in the CNMI as took part in Friday’s kickoff rally for the Public School System’s Junior Achievement Company Program.

The program aims to cultivate work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy among students by engaging them in the practical experience of running a business.

Galvin Deleon Guerrero, member of the State Board of Education, disclosed that a total of 125 students registered for the event.

The JA Company Program encompasses business, entrepreneurship, and economics curriculum for students in grades 9th through 12th. It emphasizes business content while providing a strong focus on social studies, mathematics, reading, and writing skills. Students under the program are encouraged to use innovative thinking to learn business skills that support positive attitudes as they explore and enhance their career aspirations. Outstanding participants will later be recognized through awards and recognitions.

Deleon Guerrero, himself a JA participant in high school, enumerated the great benefits he derived from joining the initiative. Besides gaining financial skills, he said the JA program also taught him good leadership and effective communications.

The JA program was last implemented in the Commonwealth in the 1990s. Its comeback this year is among Deleon Guerrero’s initiatives.

To sustain the program’s implementation, PSS has included the JA Company Program among its initiatives for high school students. This year, the NMI JA program is coordinated with the Guam chapter, which is affiliated with the national program.

According to Deleon Guerrero, five school teams will compete for business of the year, businessperson of the year, product of the year, and other recognitions that will be handed out at the end of the term.

Each school team forms and actually operates a business throughout the program using “shares” as their starting capital.

With a 25-member limit per school team, the group will be assisted and guided by teacher advisers and volunteers from private businesses to come up with their own business product.

Participating teams include Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, Kagman High School, Tinian Jr. and Sr. High School, and Dr. Rita Inos Jr. and Sr. High School.

A trade fair is slated at the end of the program term where nominees will be recognized in an awards banquet.

Deleon Guerrero hinted that this year, CNMI winners may be sent to the Guam JA chapter to compete in their trade fair and may also join the national level competition, to be held in Hong Kong next year.

According to 12th grader Eric Devin Atalig of SSHS, the JA program will help him learn more about how to create a business. He hopes to build a sports equipment store someday and looks forward to the skills he would gain from joining the JA program.

Marianas High School sophomore student Richil Vila Pizarro also looks forward to the positive impact of the training on her future. “I joined this program because I know it will definitely help me in college,” she said.

Friday’s kickoff rally was in collaboration with the Northern Marianas College, Commonwealth Development Authority, Department of Commerce, and other agencies and organizations. On Saturday, teacher-advisers and volunteers for the teams went through a training session with Guam JA officials and representatives.