Jr. Achievement

Today I was able to spend time in my oldest son's 5th grade classroom as a Junior Achievement (JA) volunteer. JA exists to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics, and to improve the quality of their lives. This is my 11th year teaching JA and the last 6 years have been in either one of my son's classrooms.

I love teaching JA for several reasons. As a working mother, it is a wonderful way to spend time with my son in his environment. I am able to get to know his teacher, the other students, and his friends. Our oldest son is an amazing child and he never ceases to surprise me with his maturity and comfort level with me being in his classroom. I've asked him twice if I embarass him and both times he told me I didn't embarass him and that I did a good job. As a working mother, that is music to my years.

Secondly, I love to teach. Often throughout my life, I've thought about being a teacher. Thankfully, I've had both personal and professional opportunites to teach children and train adults. This won't surprise any of you, but as a kid, I was always the teacher when we played "school" with my neighborhood friends. (Sorry about that A & W)!!

Finally, teaching JA is a wonderful way to bring the business world to students. Every year that I've taught, the students are so open to the experience and love having visitors. And they remember!! Today we talked about acquiring job skills that they will need to find a high-demand job. The students were sponges...and they are so smart! One student even remembered a JA lesson from 1st grade about needs and wants. I enjoy their energy and their excitement, even though both can get out of hand at times.

Either way, I love teaching and I love my son, so JA is a wonderful way for me to combine them. What do you love to do?