Newslink

June 2011Summer

Mercy College Sligo’s Transition Year team with its Beauti-ful And Green (BAG) eco-friendly range of gift bags, is this year’s winner of the Junior Achievement Company of the Year, announced by Dragon’s Den panelist and entrepre-neur, Sean Gallagher at Citi, Dublin.

Beating over 2,000 students from around Ireland, and very stiff competition from the other seven finalists, this year’s winners – Leigh-Anne Waters, Aoife Keenan, Niamh O’Donnell, Claire Conlon and Ide McKenna proved them-selves to be creative and astute entrepreneurs. The team now goes through to the Junior Achievement European Company of the Year final in Oslo.

“This was a very tough call for the judges. The teams were of such a high standard, I have no doubt each of the final-ists has a very bright future as an entrepreneur,” said Cathal O’Daly, Head of Financial Transactions GTS, Citi.

Cathal was joined on the judging panel by Aengus McClean, Managing Director, AOL Ireland and Carmel Halpin, Man-ager, Corporate Responsibility, Accenture.

Sligo BAGS National Title

Sean Gallagher spoke of how important it is to see oneself, not as a job description or career type, but as a unique set of skills, abilities and talents. This gives scope to explore a great variety of careers and opportunities. His inspirational outlook was encouraging not only to the students, but teachers, judges and organisers.

The other finalists, having come through the Regional Finals, sponsored by Chartered Accountants Ireland, were – Loreto College Cavan with Pic Ure Words; St Clare’s College Cavan with Full Battery; Ardscoil Na Tri-onoide, Kildare, with Coasterz; CBS High School, Clonmel with Spiel Mit Worten, Salesian College Limerick, with Stranger Wise, Danger Wise; Patrician Secondary School, Kildare with Pop-a-Top and Mercy College, Sligo with Tech-no-logic. The JA Company Programme is a hands-on business learning experience, where students operate and man-age their own mini-companies. It provides numerous opportunities for the introduction, development and re-inforcement of important academic and leadership skills. Each company is mentored by a business volunteer from a local supporting company who provides the students with hands-on experience, advice and expertise. The Company Competition is a national competition open to the regional winning teams from the JA Company Programme.

Eimear Sugrue, Chartered Accountants Ireland with

the Stranger Wise, Danger Wise team from Salesian

College, Limerick

The winning team pictured with Sean Gallagher

and judges Cathal O’ Daly, Carmel Halpin and

Aengus McClean

A Good Report

Junior Achievement is delighted to report a good year on many levels! Our supporters’ commitment to bridging the gap between school and the world of work has never been stronger. Our network of 3,000 business volunteers in 2010/11 helped JA reach more than 70,000 students in over 500 schools throughout the country – an increase of 4,000 students.

We have welcomed Bord Gáis, Xilinx, SAP, arvato Financial Services Ltd, Merck Sharp & Dohme Carlow, TV3, News International and Rabobank/ACC on board this year. Bord Gáis is also partnering with Junior Achievement to launch Science Forward, an exciting new science event, bringing 600 senior primary students to third level universities and colleges in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick to experience exciting hands-on science in advance of making their subject choices for secondary school.

Junior Achievement’s Board of Directors also has a lot to celebrate this year. Our new Chairman, Brendan Doyle, Director, Corporate Finance, Reorganisation Services, Deloitte, has been joined on the Board by Eileen Roberts, Partner, A&L Goodbody and Paul O’Neill, Deputy Editor, The Irish Times. Thank you for your support and dedication to the next generation.

Junior Achievement Marks Outstanding Contributors

Junior Achievement marked Citi’s generous and ongoing support of the organisation’s work at the Annual Council Meeting, presenting Tara O’Reilly, Public Affairs Officer, with an Outstanding Contributor Award. Awards were also presented to Julie Dickerson, SVP and General Manager, Engine Leasing, GE Capital Aviation Services, Shannon; Maggie Ryan, Access Officer, ITT Dublin, who has brought JA’s Enterprise Challenge project to more than 280 students in Tallaght and Catherine Begley, Teacher, St. Aloysius’s College, Carraigtwohill, Cork, a long standing advocate of the positive impact of JA programmes

Hosted by Citi, the meeting was attended by many of JA’s supporters who were brought up to date on JA’s projects and growth in student numbers this year - more than 70,000 primary and secondary school students now participate annually in JA programmes throughout the country. The meeting also featured students of City Quay NS who led a diversity activity demonstrating the impact resources make in enhancing or hindering the expression of talents and abilities.

Flanked by Sean Gallagher, Cathal O’Daly, Head of Financial Transactions GTS,

Citi, is presented with an Outstanding Contributor Award by Della Clancy

Chartered Accountants Ireland Nurtures Young Business Talent

“I am very impressed with the standard of our finalists,” said John McElhinny, Chartered Accountants Ireland Leinster Society who helped judge the Eastern Regional Finals. Fellow judges from Chartered Accountants Ireland at the Regional events were Collette Lennon, Mel McKeown and Eimear Sugrue.

The Coasterz team, Ardscoil Na Trionoide, Kildare with judges

Tadhg O’Toole, Modeva and John McElhinny, Chartered Ac-

countants Ireland at the Eastern Regional Finals

The Regional Finals of this year’s Junior Achievement Company Programme Competition, sponsored by Chartered Accountants Ireland, ran throughout Term Two, bringing the excitement of the Competition all over the country. Chartered Accountants Ireland also sponsors the Finance Award, credited with raising the standard of financial reports significantly over recent years.

June 2011Summer

BT Has Science Sorted!

Hand of Friendship successfullycompletes its first year

BT’s CSI ZONE

Students from St. Malachy’s, Camlough hosting

students from St. Nicholas’s, Dundalk during

Module 3 of the Hand of Friendship

BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is the biggest single schools event in Ireland with a proud tradition spanning over 40 years. BT annually sponsors Junior Achievement’s ever popular JA/BT CSI-ZONE. This year was a resounding success with thousands of students taking part in crimebusting, fingerprinting and chromatography workshops over three days, from January 13 to 15 at the RDS, Dublin.

Hands-on activities and interactive learning mean that students get a chance to engage in and enjoy science. The average visit per student at the stand was seven minutes so it is small wonder there was a high demand from teachers for information on the JA/BT CSI-ZONE workshops.

The BT volunteer team was outstanding. With huge num-bers of young people visiting the stand each day everyone re-mained enthusiastic and warm which made learning scientif-ic concepts fun and highly effective for students taking part.

The final module, “Working it Out”, saw students coming together in a sports through maths event playing darts, basketball, skipping, penalty shoot outs and bowling. They expressed their scores in averages, percentages, fractions, decimals and ratios. Each student was award-ed a Certificate of Achievement, marking their successful completion of the year.

.

Getting fingerprinted!!!

Over 400 students from 16 schools on both sides of the border participated in the first year of the Hand of Friendship project. Supported by the International Fund for Ireland, this project brings together young people on both a cross border and cross community basis. By 2013 this three year project will have reached more than 1,300 students. The Hand of Friendship project is for students (aged 10/12 years) and has six modules, five for the students and one for specifically for their parents.

Students explore topics such as friendship, diversity and sectarianism and how they might resolve conflicts arising at school, in their community and throughout their lives. Through working together using hands-on, interactive materials, students form friendships and close bonds with students from across the community divide and across the border. Working together they designed and planned their own all-inclusive sports event, concluding with a presentation from each group on their ideas.

June 2011Summer

Teacher’s Corner Volunteer’s VoiceThe real heroes at Junior Achievement are our 3,000 business volunteers. Lubos Vaclavek, who is the business development manager cooling systems EMEA of APC by Schneider Electric, is a multiple JA champion. Lubos has taught programmes since 08/09, bringing his warmth and professionalism to the Our City programme in Scoil Chaitriona SNS, Renmore, Success Skills in Mercy Secondary School, Galway City and the Company Programme in Presentation Secondary School, Galway this year. Lubos has also been involved in organising several School to Work events for students.

“Junior Achievement for our school has benefited the children in so many different ways. They have had so many opportunities to learn about business and enterprise (especially in the ‘Our Nation’ programme).

As it was a local business volunteer that worked with the children, this has given the children and teachers an insight into different places of work. The volunteer that was working with my class developed an amazing rapport with the children, made Junior Achievement fun, interesting and enjoyable for each one of them and taught them that business can be looked at from a number of different angles and approaches.”

The materials used during the programme provided the children with a hands–on experience in dealing with pro-duction lines, advertising and interviewing which they thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much from.”

Siobhan Walsh, Teacher, Scoil Mhuire, Coolcotts, County Wexford

Lubos, pictured with students he tutored from the

Presentation Secondary School, Galway

Teacher Siobhan Walsh from Scoil Mhuire,

Coolcotts, County Wexford.

Eleanor Fogarty, Teacher, Presentation Secondary School, Galway had this to say about Lubos. “Lubos is always well prepared for our sessions and the students are interested in his presentations. He explains clearly the elements of working in an enterprise and the students are learning a lot in his sessions. We are very happy to have Lubos working with us.”

Thank you, Lubos, and our wonderful team of business volunteers. You are making the future brighter and more secure for 70,000 students across Ireland.

More than 60 students from Scoil Gorm, Crumlin and Our Lady of Good Counsel, GNS, Drimnagh, enjoyed HSBC’s More Than Money workshop, learning all about how to manage personal and business budgets, how different skills are needed for different jobs, how to be a smart customer and much more.The three hour workshop, filled with hands-on activities, role playing and board games, was led by volunteers from HSBC – Denise Farrell, Tom Kilrane, Linda Harnden, Imelda Murphy, Niamh Doherty and Lisa Gleeson.“I’m going to start saving for sure after this,” commented a student. This was the general consensus and a sure sign of a successful workshop!

Volunteers from HSBC Linda Harnden and

Imelda Murphy with students from Scoil Gorm

More Than Money Makes a Mark.

June 2011Summer

95% of students at high risk of leaving school early now not only wish to complete their secondary education but are aiming to attend third level college. This is just one of the outstanding results from ITT Dublin sponsored Enterprise Challenge, nearing completion of its second year. Almost 280 students from Killinarden Community School, St. Aidan’s School, Brookfield and Jobstown Community School have enjoyed this innovative four-part year-long programme. Enterprise Challenge features a six week classroom based JA programme, typically The Economics of Staying in School, delivered by business volunteers from local organisations. Volunteers from Xilinx, Bord Gáis, Bank of New York Mellon, Fidelity Investments and South Dublin County Council all took part this year.

This is followed by careers and communications workshops in ITT Dublin, again led by business volunteers. Having identified their skills and interests, students select their ideal jobs and ‘apply’ for them. The third part of Enterprise Challenge brings the students to a workplace where they are welcomed, meet the staff and management and learn about how the workplace works. They then conduct mock interviews for their chosen job. Students from Jobstown CC visited Fidelity Investments, students from Killinarden CS visited Pfizer and students from St. Aidan’s visited Hostelworld.com and Johnson & Johnson.

.

Tallaght Gets Enterprising!

Futurewise, Future Friendly with 3M

A trip to an outdoor adventure centre rounds off the year’s experiences. Kayaking, abseiling and other ‘out of the comfort zone’ activities teach teamwork and increase confidence and self-belief among students. “We are delighted Enterprise Challenge has had such an impact in our local schools. The feedback from the students and teachers has been overwhelming-ly positive and this is reflected in the evaluations,” commented Maggie Ryan, Access Officer, ITT Dublin.

Pictured is Paul Knowles, General Manager, 3M, with Fern Finucane (10)

and Sinead Walsh (11) from Our Lady’s National School, Ballinteer,

Dublin 18.

Students from Mount Seskin Community College visit-

ing Fidelity Investments as part of Enterprise Challenge

3M are in year two of their sponsorship of the Our Universe programme which to date has reached 11,000 children. The programme incorporates their innovative environmental module ‘Futurewise’ which is supported by the website www.futurewise.ie. Futurewise teaches students to be energy aware and shows them how to help their school to reduce energy use and save money. In April students from Our Lady’s NS in Ballinteer visited 3M to run energy aware workshops with staff. 3M employees rose to the challenge and with the help of the students they produced impressive energy saving advertising campaigns!

Feedback & Contact InfoIf you have any suggestions or comments on any of our programmes, please email Junior Achievement at info@jai.ie

Junior Achievement Ireland, 8 Longford Place, Monkstown, Co. Dublin | T 01 2366644 | F 01 2803758

www.jai.ie

June 2011Summer

Thanks to our kind sponsors