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May 18, 2007
Junior Achievement and Tennessee Valley
WIRED Partnership Announced
The Tennessee Valley Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program, coordinated by Calhoun Community College, and Junior Achievement (JA) are proud to announce their partnership to better provide career awareness and career exploration opportunities to youth in the North Alabama and South Central Tennessee region and serve as a model for other regional partnerships.
JA WorldwideTM is the nation’s largest youth organization reaching over 7.5 million students in over 100 countries. Locally, Junior Achievement serves over 15,000 students throughout 12 counties in north Alabama and south Tennessee. The Core Purpose of Junior Achievement is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy and is dedicated to educating young people about business, economics and free enterprise.
The vision of Tennessee Valley WIRED is to connect regional workforce development, economic development, education, and entrepreneurial/ investment activities into one flexible system that utilizes the prosperity-creating power of innovation. A major goal of WIRED is to develop talent that will increase the size and quality of the workforce necessary to support and grow targeted industry sectors of biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and other related fields, by developing an educational pipeline that encourages and prepares students for careers at all levels in these targeted industries.
Junior Achievement is a strong bridge between education and business, giving students the opportunity to plan their futures along with giving them the tools to carry out their dreams. Because JA programs are already in place with dedicated volunteer networks that provide in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12, this partnership is one that will be able to readily connect regional opportunities for students.
The JA - WIRED partnership will provide students with myriad growth opportunities, including job shadowing and the incredible opportunity to meet many role models from a variety of career options. Making the “real world” come alive for students as business leaders serve as role models and share their knowledge and experience will be one of several ways these two groups will partner to help create better future employees and stress the importance of education to today’s youth.
The JA-WIRED partnership in the Tennessee Valley is a model for the U.S. Department of Labor's WIRED regions across the country. As explained by Dr. Darrell Luzzo, Senior Vice President of Education and Strategic Partnerships for JA Worldwide, “The Junior Achievement/Tennessee Valley WIRED collaboration represents the true power of partnership and collaboration. We hope to identify best practices that are sure to emerge from the successful implementation of the Junior Achievement/WIRED collaboration in the Tennessee Valley as we explore similar collaborations in other regions of the country.
 Mrs. Jackie S. Dant, Vice President of the U.S. Southern Region of JA WorldwideTM recently met with local JA directors and WIRED team leaders at Calhoun Community College to discuss the creation of the partnership. Pictured (l-r) are Tricia Pruitt, Better Business Bureau, Junior Achievement Board Member; Mitch Gardner, Cargill General Manager, Junior Achievement of North Central Alabama Vice Chair; Mary Yarbrough, Dean, Workforce Education & Technologies, Calhoun Community College; Paula Rigler, President, Junior Achievement of North Central Alabama; Cyndy Morgan, President, Junior Achievement of Northern Alabama; Tracy Lamm, Government and Community Relations Manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. and Junior Achievement of Northern Alabama Board Chair; Ms. Dant; Kim Gann, Education Director, Junior Achievement of North Central Alabama; Doug Andrews, BP America, Junior Achievement of North Central Alabama Board Chair; Debi Garrison, Grants Coordinator, Calhoun Community College; Vee Harness, Junior Achievement of North Alabama Chair Elect; and Neil Lamb, Director of Educational Outreach, Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology.
For more information on Junior Achievement visit www.ja.org (worldwide) or http://northernalabama.ja.org (locally).
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Janet Kincherlow-Martin
Director of Public Relations
(256) 306-2561
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