Students from Lee University’s School of Business recently partnered with Junior Achievement to teach financial literacy and entrepreneurship concepts to elementary students at Blythe Bower Elementary School. 

“This is the third semester that my class has joined with various other business classes for Junior Achievement’s ‘JA in a Day’ program,” said Dr. Michaelia Black, assistant professor of accounting at Lee. “Not only does it give our students an opportunity to spend time serving local elementary school students, but it gives them a chance to share some of the concepts they have been studying in their business degrees.” 

Fifty students from Lee’s Managerial Accounting class and Money and Financial Markets class, along with other business majors, volunteered for this semester’s “JA in a Day.” They taught lessons about finances, such as the difference between a “want” and a “need” when saving money, the principles of starting a business, and how to track revenues and expenses, to students between kindergarten and fifth grade. 

“I absolutely love Junior Achievement and teaching the kids something they’ve never learned before, and possibly won’t get a chance to learn,” said Logan Lovelace, a sophomore accounting major at Lee. “I like the concepts we teach them and how useful they will be throughout their lives.” 

Lee students were assigned to a grade and divided into pairs. The pairs then taught their respective classes for five sessions with materials provided by Junior Achievement. 

“In spite of the work involved, we have several students who come back every semester because they enjoy it so much,” said Black. “They see the value in providing financial literacy training starting in kindergarten and throughout their lives.” 

Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization that aims to teach financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship to school-age children. These lessons align with national and state educational standards and are delivered to millions of students across the country with the help of education partners and volunteers from the local community. 

For more information about Junior Achievement, visit https://jausa.ja.org/. 

For more information about Lee University’s School of Business, visit leeu.academics/business/.