Junior Achievement Rock Star

Author: Lina Bois
Work Readiness
Published: Tuesday, 28 Mar 2017

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Original Story from Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana

When the Lauri Wade, Counselor at Kerrick Elementary School in Louisville, tweeted "Best day ever!" along with her student's photo, she could never have imagined the chain of events that would occur.

The photo of her 5th-grade student, Dallas, dressed as the JA BizTown utility Meter Reader, showed a young man whose face just beamed from the experience he was having in the learning laboratory. Within a few hours, the JA of Kentuckiana staff determined that Dallas should be on the cover of the 2017 Annual Report, which was a single day away from being sent to the printer.

JA staff sent an email to the JA BizTown teacher liaison asking the school to try to obtain permission from Dallas' parents. After a flurry of late night emails, the teacher reported back that Dallas' aunt gave this permission. The graphic designer scrambled to change the cover and the printed annual report was delivered two weeks later.

When JA of Kentuckiana president Debra Hoffer took copies to Dallas' classroom, Ms. Wade pulled her aside and said, "You know, he almost didn't get to come because of his behavior. I had to bring him in my car." When Dallas was handed the annual report, he let out a loud, "Yay!" All of his classmates surrounded him and, rather than being left behind and forgotten, he is now a rock star.

Imagine if we could empower a generation to transform "I can?t" into "I can." We can. Together.