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How can you bridge your business experience with local schools as well as live the Santa Clara University mission of Competence, Conscience and Compassion? Through volunteering with Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County, you can inspire the next generation of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and technologists. You can join the many SCU MBA alumni who already are.

Today there is a large gap between the number of students in this generation planning to join Silicon Valley’s technology workforce1 over the next ten years vs. realistic industry needs to sustain growth. Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County is helping to fill that gap. It is the premier K – 12 economic education organization, serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Santa Clara Counties. Globally, Junior Achievement is the largest and fastest-growing nonprofit economic education organization, annually teaching over 4 million elementary, middle school and high school students in 106 countries. Junior Achievement’s mission is for students to be inspired and educated by volunteer role models, who help these youth succeed by linking education to the world of work. Junior Achievement’s unique approach to accomplish its mission is that volunteers from local business organizations combine their work experience with up-to-date Junior Achievement-developed courses to teach students how to apply basic skills and critical thinking to solve complex problems in the “real world.” Armed with this fundamental business and community understanding, 25,000 students annually, in every school grade, learn to become active contributors to the Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay economy.

MBA Alumni can join the growing ranks of Santa Clara University alumni, students, administrators and professors already volunteering with Junior Achievement.

Barry Posner, Dean of the Business School

Fred Hoar, Dean’s Executive Professor of Marketing and JA Advisory Board Member

Other MBA alumni that are JA Board Members: Mike Hackworth, JA Advisory Board Chairman and Chairman of the Board at Cirrus Logic, and Louie Lombardo, Engineering Director at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company

MBA alumni who have been honored as JA Hall of Fame Laureates: Father Locatelli of SCU, Mike Markkula, co-founder of Apple Computer, and John Sobrato of Sobrato Development

MBA alumni on JA staff: Elaine Curran, President

The MBA program’s Women in Business (WIB)

Retail Management Institute students in RSSA

Accelerated Cooperative Education (ACE) students

Students from the general undergraduate population

Dean Posner has participated in selecting honorees for the annual JA Hall of Fame, including the April 2002 event. The Junior Achievement Hall of Fame annually honors several local business people—known as “JA Laureates”--who have made strong, positive impact on children’s lives. RSSA, ACE and other students have volunteered in individual classrooms at multiple elementary schools near campus, such as Westwood, Buchser, and Forest Hill. Women in Business piloted the 1st SCU “JA in a Day” where WIB volunteers taught the JA curriculum for the whole school day to each classroom at Rose Elementary School in Milpitas.

How can Santa Clara University MBA Alumni have the same impact?

Volunteer as a JA classroom consultant

Host a Groundhog Job Shadow Day at your company

To become a classroom volunteer you only need to provide your expertise and experience because the staff at Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County makes it simple and easy for you to add value immediately. Volunteer Consultants are provided with Classroom Kits of easy-to-follow lesson plans and materials needed for each 30 to 50 minute visit. There is grade-appropriate curriculum for Elementary, Middle and High School. And Groundhog Job Shadow Day has been offered in Silicon Valley for more than five years. The program is well orchestrated to fit corporate schedules while meeting student goals to "shadow" workplace mentors as they go through a normal day on the job.

Wouldn't it be fun to network with other alums and impact local schools at the same time? You can team with a group of alums and/or business colleagues to flexibly teach once a week for a few weeks or to concentrate on a single day (JA in a Day or Groundhog Job Shadow Day). Maureen Muscat, Director of MBA Alumni Relations (408-554-4557 and mmuscat@scu.edu), can arrange a great Junior Achievement experience for you and your alum team. Santa Clara University Business School Graduates and Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County: Inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs and technologists, one classroom at a time. For more Junior Achievement information and to volunteer, visit http://www.jascc.org or contact Debbie Gale at 408-988-8915 and dgale@jascc.org.

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network" "2002 Workforce Study: Connecting Today's Youth with Tomorrow's Technology Careers". March, 2002. Conducted by A.T. Kearney.