Junior Achievement program gets rolling

Junior Achievement program students take part in a team-building activity during a
workshop at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center last Friday. (Contributed Photo)

Students from four of the island’s public high schools and a private school gathered last Friday for team building workshops to kick start this year’s Junior Achievement program, a business competition of sorts for island students.

Friday’s workshop at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center introduced the Junior Achievement program to students from four participating schools—Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, and Kagman High School.

Mount Carmel School is also participating this year; the first year the competition was opened up to private schools.

“Today’s event was really focused on giving an overview and information on JA and how it is world-wide, and its reach, and its impact on students,” said Carline Sablan, Commonwealth Development Authority economic development analyst and JA program coordinator.

CDA is looking at the end of March for JA’s trade fair, where students will showcase their products.

During the workshop Friday, students competed to make the taller tower out of spaghetti noodles.

They were given 26 sticks of spaghetti, three feet of string, three feet of tape, a marshmallow, and 20 minutes to build a freestanding tower.

“The marshmallow had to be on top,” said Sablan. “Kagman High [the winners] did a great job with the tower.”

A second exercise had students make a product that targeted tourists, using string, colored stock paper, and masking tape.

Eliezha May Mendoza, from Saipan Southern High School, said her team made “The Marianas Plumeria Set,” which included a necklace and a bracelet.

“We wanted to make a product target tourists because plumerias are our national flower,” Mendoza said. “And plumerias are very attractive to the island-style and the island life of Saipan, so that’s what we wanted to do.”

They used the stock paper to make “flowers.”

She expressed confidence in her team in the weeks ahead before the competition. “This is interesting, I’ve never done this.”

The JA competitors will now be will be meeting for the next 12 weeks to come up with their products and business plans, to sell stocks, and capitalize their businesses, said Sablan.

The students will also market their product, sell them, and put together an annual report, and a video commercial.

If they are profitable the students will be issuing dividends to their shareholders.

“If you bought a share and it was profitable then you’d get dividends in the end,” Sablan explained.

This year, the JA program is partnering with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Bank of Hawaii, Hyatt Regency Saipan, new to the program, and IT&E.

Company of the year, best commercial, best presentation, best annual report, and best at trade fair awards will be given out at the end of the competition, as well as awards for president of the year, vice president of finance, market, human resources, and public relations and production.

Junior Achievement is a worldwide non-profit organization that provides educational programs for youth to gain the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future and make smart academic and economic choices. Corporate and community volunteers deliver relevant, hands-on experiences that give students the knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship.

Junior Achievement is one of the largest non-profit organizations worldwide dedicated to inspiring youth to own their future and their economic success. Junior Achievement is a 121-member network across the world with reach to more than 10 million students and powered by more than 430,000 volunteers from all sectors of society.