Junior Achievement Assists Local

Students

BRIDGEPORT — Students in three Danbury area high schools were introduced to the economic education programs of Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut during this past school year thanks to a grant from the Albert W. and Helen C. Meserve Memorial Fund.

The $2,500 grant funded JA’s Economics of Staying in School classes, which focus on dropout prevention and personal financial literacy at Newtown Experiential High School and the Alternative Center for Excellence in Danbury. It also funded two Success Skills classes at Newtown High School. Currently more than 2,700 students in the greater Danbury area take part in nationally recognized Junior Achievement programs.

“Research has shown that too many young people are economically and financially illiterate,” says Charles Priddle, president of the JA chapter. “They reach adulthood unable to meet the demands of the workplace or of managing their personal lives. JA offers an alternative and the Meserve grant will help us continue to expand the number of Danbury area children who benefit.”

The greater Danbury area is one of three served by Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut, along with the greater Bridgeport area and the Lower Naugatuck Valley. Founded in 1946, the chapter is an affiliate of the largest, fastest growing nonprofit economic education organization in the world. JA in school and after school programs offered in kindergarten through twelfth grade have reached more than 180,000 area students.

Volunteers from the local business community teach programs designed to promote education and the free enterprise system through hands-on experience and the basic principles of economics and finance. Last year 13,550 students and 1,000 business volunteers in 20 communities in Western Connecticut participated.

For more information on Junior Achievement call 203-382-0180.