TAUNTON – Superintendent John Cabral is pleased to announce that Taunton Public School is continuing its partnership with Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts (JA) to bring a series of experiential financial learning programs, sponsored by Bristol County Savings Bank, to students over the next three years.
Taunton Public Schools and JA began working together in 2015. The partnership aims to advance financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship education across Taunton Public Schools through innovative learning activities.
“We are committed to providing our students with the knowledge, skills and experience they need to succeed in their future endeavors and careers,” Superintendent Cabral said. “Financial management is something that every student should be well-versed in, and we believe that it is crucial to begin developing these abilities at a young age. We are so excited to be once again working with the experts at JA to set our students up for success.”
Activities include:
- JA Company Program: High school students will be empowered to solve a problem in their community by building and managing their own start-up business.
- TPS Investing for the Future Challenge: This program was uniquely designed for Taunton. It will include curriculum about the basics of investments, engagement with local professionals in the finance and investment community, and an investment challenge.
- Titan Business Challenge: High school students will have the opportunity to attend a day-long interactive business simulation competition at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Students will participate in a hands-on dynamic learning experience and interact with some of the region’s top business leaders while competing for scholarship awards.
JA also is developing engaging activities designed for elementary school students to build foundational financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship skills.
Community members may become involved with these activities in a variety of ways – from teaching an elementary school classroom program, to mentoring a team of high school students running their student company, to being a guest speaker. More information about getting involved will be announced when available.
Two companies have recently been launched as a part of the JA Company Program. Students at Taunton High School launched Lanyard for You (LFY), a company that sells customizable lanyards. Students at Taunton Alternative High School launched Live Lucky, which sells inspirational T-shirts. Students are working on getting their websites up and running, creating production systems, speaking to vendors and more.
“On behalf of our entire team at JA, we are excited and honored to be expanding our partnership with Taunton Public Schools through this new and innovative model of collaboration. Thanks to the leadership of Superintendent Cabral, we’ve built a cross-sector partnership that is focused on creating new programs and scaling existing efforts that will help advance financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship education across the district,” JA President Jeffrey Pelletier said. “We are deeply grateful to our Title Sponsor Bristol County Savings Bank – whose commitment to the community and education is truly remarkable – and we look forward to engaging with their team’s skills and talents to inspire and prepare the next generation of leaders in Taunton.”
JA’s services are free to schools, and are supported by investments from community partners. Taunton Public Schools wishes to thank Bristol County Savings Bank, this partnership’s Exclusive Title Sponsor, for their support. The Bank’s commitment to the program totals $45,000, which is being annually awarded in the amount of $15,000 over the next three years.
“Having had a decades-long commitment to Taunton Public Schools, I commend Superintendent Cabral for his leadership and collaboration with JA to bring this exciting and unique program to the students throughout the Taunton school system and we are so pleased to be a part of it,” President and CEO of Bristol County Savings Bank Patrick Murray said. “The Bank values the many ways JA serves the community as its focus on education and literacy initiatives aligns with our mission. So much so that in addition to our long-standing financial commitment, two members of our senior leadership team, Michael Patacao and Will Mendonca, currently serve as Board Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, for JA of Southern Massachusetts.”
To learn more about the partnership, please click here.
About Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts
Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts is a regional non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in the global economy. JA focuses on high impact learning experiences for K-12 students across the key content areas of financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship that drive long-term outcomes in education development, economic development, and youth development. JA’s learning experiences are always free and are implemented in-school, virtually, and out-of-school thanks to the support of volunteers and partners. Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts is the local affiliate of Junior Achievement USA, the nation’s oldest and largest economic education organization with over 100 years of experience. To learn more about the organization, click here.