By Chantal Livesay

Since 1992, Junior Achievement (JA) has helped nearly 20,000 students in the Allen County School District, in grades kindergarten through 12, learn about financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship.

Now, with a new program called “Real Jobs Real World” in place, JA is hoping to help students start thinking more about their futures at the freshman level.

Real Jobs Real World is a program designed to help guide students through their career-searching process from high school to employment.  It supports the Kentucky Department of Education’s “Career Cruising” and ILP program.

“It’s a great new curriculum because it’s specific to Kentucky,” said Heather Rogers, president of Bowling Green-based Junior Achievement of South Central Kentucky, which serves JA programs across the region.

The program, set for Allen County-Scottsville High School freshmen beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, is designed to work hand-in-hand with the efforts of participating schools.

“It’s a great program,” said Rogers.  “We’re trying to share it with all the school systems.”

With the curriculum developed for Kentucky, the program will feature the state’s hot 100 jobs, skills needed for jobs and training and opportunities offered by different colleges.

“It gets them thinking,” Rogers said.

Volunteers from the community will serve as real-world career guides for the students, helping them connect the classroom career exploration activities with jobs in the real world.  Volunteers provide their background information and educational paths to the students so they can serve as role models for them.

The curriculum and materials include workbooks, hand-on activities and games that help support the career exploration process.  Some of the lessons the volunteers will be teaching include Real World Economics, Real World and Jobs—Our Region, Understanding Career Choices, Education Paths, Career Paths and helping students create a Career Commercial.

For seven weeks during the upcoming fall semester—set to begin for students on Wednesday, Aug. 7—students will be visited by volunteers in their classrooms.  AC-S teachers schedule what times this program will take place in their classroom.

“We match the volunteers with the teachers,” Rogers noted.

Having received $1,250 grants from each of Allen County’s local anti-substance abuse volunteer coalitions—the Allen County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (ASAP) and the Allen County-Scottsville Faith Coalition—Junior Achievement hopes to make Real Jobs Real World a two-part program about avoiding career and future-harming choices like drug abuse, and focusing on future-building activities such as career preparation.

JA hopes to show students how drugs can affect their career and future.  Organizers hope that students can learn how a positive choice can help them in their future career paths.

“We hope it will affect the students and encourage them to start thinking about the future,” Rogers said.