Baldacci to honor Junior Achievement’s 40 years of service

BANGOR – For 40 years, Junior Achievement has been teaching students about the business world.

Today, Gov. John Baldacci will honor the organization whose volunteers visit classrooms throughout the state to inform students about what awaits them once they graduate from high school or college.

At a noon ceremony at the State House, Baldacci will announce that this week is “Junior Achievement Week.”

More than 1,200 students in Bangor, Brewer and Old Town participate in Junior Achievement programs, according to Polly Pruneau, Junior Achievement program manager from Westbrook. Volunteers from area business communities teach money sense, basic economics and the concepts of working together and building teams, she said. Entrepreneurship also is discussed.

Schools decide whether to participate. Each year, Junior Achievement mails informational sheets to the schools and their teachers. If they are interested, request forms are returned to Junior Achievement and the relationship begins.

Employers say that many young people are not prepared for the workplace and that makes it vital for Junior Achievement to be in all schools and not just the ones who choose to participate in the programs, Pruneau said.

“It’s all taught by volunteers,” she said. “It’s a nonprofit organization. Schools get it for free.”

Junior Achievement is a worldwide organization based in Colorado. For information about the program in Maine, write to Junior Achievement of Maine Inc., 90 Bridge St. Suite 120, Westbrook 04092, or visit maine.ja.org.