T he H ome R esource I n V irtual E ducation
Financial Literacy | Work Readiness | Entrepreneurship
JA's K-12 digital programs from our home to yours.
WEEK 4
THRIVE Your Way With JA Today!

It's time to breathe and take a little brain break for both teachers, parents and of course, the students you are supporting while schools remain closed. Yes! You can help students learn from home and enjoy a brain break between required lessons. Read below to see how JA can help!

Welcome to our 4th week of JA THRIVE delivered to you by JA of Central Florida (JACF). JACF has developed this weekly "virtual backpack" filled with digital resources to help Central Florida's K-12 students, their teachers and parents THRIVE at home while schools are closed.

We can't wait for our volunteers to join students again when schools reopen in the fall! Until then, our goal is to help adults find meaningful ways to keep all students planning for and dreaming about tomorrow...and worry less about what's happening today. This is how we "JA!"

Don't miss out on our earlier issues of JA THRIVE. Click here to access Weeks 1-3 of JA THRIVE!

Share JA THRIVE with anyone helping students while they learn from home! Keep your ideas/requests coming! A member of our JACF staff can help walk you through any lessons and also hep you modify activities, so students are successful. Email us at programs@jacentralfl.org for any help needed!

Teacher? Parent? Volunteer?
Start BELOW and help your students THRIVE today!
Math. Reading. Virtual Lesson. Science Lab. P.E., Art, Social Studies. How are you doing it all ? Teachers and Parents everywhere have been doing a phenomenal job supporting students in this new "remote learning" environment.

And students? How amazing are all our Central Florida students? Learning new tools, being brave and participating in Virtual Chats with teachers, trying their best in their alternative classrooms despite glitches they may be experiencing. Everyone is finding a way to THRIVE , and at JACF, we continue to help in that effort.

JA USA is helping teachers and parents gain access to online student lessons, materials and resources that can be guided with help from an adult or completed by a student independently.

Teachers! This week, we want to focus THRIVE on some helpful lessons you can incorporate into your current plans or substitute into your weekly lessons. JA lessons are designed to engage students in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship learning that utilizes their reading, math, social students and critical thinking skills!

Parents/Guardians! We want to help you THRIVE and provide those meaningful brain breaks for both you and your child/children! JA lessons are the perfect solution for that "pause" in assignments that support ongoing learning and will take the heavy lifting off your already full plate.

THRIVE with these JA resources our JACF staff has selected for you this week to help you reduce the stress of sharing K-12 Distance Learning resources with your students and children. Check out this article from Forbes magazine, 101 Ways to Stay Engaged While Schools Are Closed intended to help parents find some alternative activities that keeps students engaged and motivated for the next few weeks!


Making Sense of COVID-19: Continuing Healthy Conversations with Middle and High School Students
Our teens are savvy and they too, feel the impact of the changing job market affected by COVID-19. JA is helping families open those lines of communication, so students know their voices are being heard and that their opinions and ideas matter.


Feel free to click on each of JA's recent publications if you have not had the chance to open those thoughtful conversations with middle and high school students you know:




ELEMENTARY K-5
Wow is she planning for the future! Our JA Kid Professor talks retirement!
Check out our JA Kid Professor as she talks about retiring one day! Click here to view her colorful tips on retirement!

Back by popular demand! New BONUS K-2 Activities This Week:
Celebrate Financial Literacy Month through fun reading activities.. We've located two books that help students learn about managing money. Don't worry if you don't have them at home - we've found the audio-recordings your student/child can watch, listen to and enjoy and connected you to a list of discussion questions that go along with each book.

JACF Weekly K-5 Selections for Teachers & Parents:
NEW THIS WEEK! Teachers and Parents need a break; kids do too! Let our recorded lessons give everyone the brain break they need.

This week's lessons/activities have been organized with hyperlinks to all sessions and related videos. Easy for teachers to upload to your digital lesson plan books. Even easier for parents to download and share with your children today!

MIDDLE 6-8

JACF Weekly 6-8 Selection for Teachers & Parents:
Welcome to digital, recorded lessons for middle school students! Our JA Global Marketplace program provides insight and clarity to our new and current reality. Students will gain a solid understanding of countries around the world and how they produce, consume, buy, and sell to maintain the infrastructure of the global economy.This 6-session, free program has been transformed to a condensed digital format with easy-to-access videos to guide 6th-8th grade students. Each activity-based session includes session-specific, extended learning opportunities that can be modified in any way to meet the needs of the student(s) you are supporting.

SPECIAL NOTE: : JA "blended courses" provide opportunities for you to teach virtually and customize content to meet the needs of your middle grades students.
HIGH 9-12
JACF Weekly 9-12 Selection for Teachers & Parents:
All lessons have been organized with hyperlinks to sessions or main activity.. Easy for teachers to upload to your digital lesson plan book. Even easier for parents to download and share with your children today! Two new items this week:

  • JA Access Your Future / JA Build My Future - Computer / Device apps (depending on which you prefer) that helps teens, their parents and teachers break down the cost of achieving young people's career goals into real, easy-to-understand numbers. Students are understanding that every career will require some kind of credential after high school, but what is the cost of that career? Teens can assess more than 100 careers, see what levels of education are required, then calculate the cost of education. Explore all options, so students can avoid the pitfalls of student loan debt!

  • Grades Count! Now more than ever, our students are challenged by their loss of comfort and routine. Learning from home is being strongly supported, but it's not always as easy for students who may be experiencing a quiet lack of motivation and may be losing sight of the importance of doing their best. Check out this great online activity to help high school students keep their eye on the prize!


SPECIAL NOTE: JA "blended courses" provide opportunities for you to teach virtually and customize content to meet the needs of your high school students.These are supplemental and semester-long programs you can select for students you support.

Parent? Teacher? Have questions about any of the JA resources above? Need something you don't see?

Contact us directly at programs@jacentralfl.org
A member from our JACF Programs team will be glad to assist you!
JACF Partner Resources
Join JA and CNBC's Virtual Town Hall for Teens
This Thursday, April 23 from 1 pm to 2 pm ET , Junior Achievement (JA) and CNBC will be holding a Virtual Town Hall. The JA + CNBC Virtual Town Hall will address teens’ questions and concerns related to the financial impact of COVID-19. The event is being made available to students, teachers, and parents seeking answers to questions like, “Why are people losing jobs?” “How will this impact my plans for college?” and “Are we going to be okay?”
To answer teens’ questions, CNBC has assembled a panel of experts in the areas of economics, financial planning, financial wellness, and education. The panel’s moderator is CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson .

Daymond John serves as a member of our expert panel for the JA + CNBC Virtual Town Hall. John is an American businessman, investor, television personality, author, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the founder, president, and CEO of FUBU, and appears as an investor on the ABC reality televi sio n series  Shark Tank .

MS Teams platform will be used to deliver the Virtual Town Hall. Students, Teachers, Parents and others can register below. Don't miss out!
Teachers! Free NY Times Digital Access for Teens 13+
In a time of tremendous uncertainty, The New York Times and Verizon are partnering to give high schools across the country free digital access to The Times to help students understand and stay connected to this rapidly evolving world.

U.S. high school students, teachers and administrators are eligible for three months of free access to The New York Times online.

MyCareerShines - Career Tools for Florida's Students
P rovided by the Florida Department of Education, MyCareerShines provides elementary, middle, high school and college students and the workforce with career exploration tools that will help benefit their financial health over time.

Used in our JA Inspire program, student accounts grow as students grow. Help learners at any age and at every stage of life, so they can plan for their futures and own their economic success!

Access Florida's career planning tools for different people in your life...maybe even you:


JACF Virtual Career Speaker Series: STEM Experts
JA of Central Florida has partnered with our friends at The Florida High Tech Corridor to give your class or family access to free, recorded videos that connect young people to career experts from STEM and other industries and from Florida's three Corridor universities (UCF, USF and UF).

Students in grades 6-12 can view recorded videos and learn from "virtual volunteers" about their careers in Video Game Design/Animation, Construction, CyberSecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Modeling and Simulation and so many more!

Also check out our JA Virtual Volunteers who led stemCONNECT classroom sessions for our JA Finance Park Virtual students in Orange and Osceola counties this past year!

Need help staying "connected" at home?
AT&T is committed to being here to help you stay connected throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Details about options for current customers and eligible families can be found here.

Use the link above and contact AT&T directly with any questions about how they can help your family stay connected at home.

Comcast announced it will be increasing speeds for the Internet Essentials program, and making the program free to new low-income customers for two months, amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

To sign up, visit their Comcast Webpage
Spectrum is also offering special discounts to households affected by COVID-19.

Beginning Monday, March 16, they will offer free access to internet and WiFi for 60-days for new Pre-K to 12, college student and teacher households who don't currently have internet or WiFi service.

This discount will be applied as a credit for your first two months of internet services. Spectrum will waive any installation or pre-payment fees to help get you started. For more information, contact Spectrum at (855) 243-8892.
NEXT WEEK IN JA THRIVE:
More JA Financial Literacy, Work Readiness and Entrepreneurship programs for K-12 distance learning!
We're here to help teachers and parents throughout Central Florida!
Let our team help you modify any JA activities for your students or children learning from home. Contact us at programs@jacentralfl.org