Senior project manager, Rebecca Granger, recently had the opportunity to participate in the Junior Achievement (JA) of the Space Coast‘s JA Speaker Series Virtual, a new program created to address the COVID-19 crisis. The virtual program provides relevant, free, and easily accessible resources for online learning.
“I really loved getting the opportunity to participate in this series,” said Granger. “It is a great way to reach a wide audience with messages of hope. The world has changed so dramatically and being able to give back in some small way means a lot to me.”
Anne Conroy-Baiter, JA Space Coast president, said: “One of the reasons that JA of the Space Coast is ranked in the top 10 of 107 area JA offices, despite being second-smallest, is that we approach our programming entrepreneurially. If we see a gap in local needs, we work to fill it.”
And on March 19, that’s exactly what Candice Hodge, education and program manager, and Conroy-Baiter did when they put their heads together to create the new virtual program.
The overall goal of the JA Speaker Series Virtual is a dual approach. First, it creates a video library of Space Coast speakers to provide kids with a broadened Space Coast career spectrum, while at the same time giving guidance, reassurance, and perspective during the COVD-19 time. Additionally, it provides teachers with a free online resource that is easy to assign and easy to access.
Conroy-Baiter added, “The model has proved successful enough that it was rolled out as a model to all JA areas in Florida and the videos will be added to a JA video library being created at the national level.”
Other programs created to address needs by JA Space Coast are JA Money 101, created to support high schoolers stressed about money, and JA GLOW: Women in STEM, in response to building a more diverse workforce of the future for local industry.
