Junior Achievement Creates Free Money-Management Teaching Tools for Teachers, Parents

COLUMBIA, SC – April 8, 2009 – In its quest to help bridge the financial education gap, Junior Achievement USA® announced today that it has created two new series of free, downloadable teaching tools designed to help both teachers and parents talk to young people about smart money management. The lessons, called Junior Achievement $ave, USA,  are posted at http://www.ja.org/, and cover such topics as budgeting, the importance of saving, understanding the cost of credit and how to use it, and planning how to pay for college. The lessons are sponsored by The Allstate Foundation.

The classroom lessons are targeted to grades 5 through 12-each of the 3 one-hour lessons is targeted to a specific range of grades for implementation by Junior Achievement volunteers and schools.  The easy-to-use downloadable courses focus on saving and sharing money for grade 5; the importance of establishing a budget to manage money for grades 6-8; and learning about credit for grades 9-12.  All students will gain valuable financial knowledge that could improve their ability to make wise financial choices in the future.

In addition, Junior Achievement has created 12 lessons for parents to use to talk to their children about personal financial literacy. According to the 2009 Teens and Personal Finance survey by Junior Achievement and The Allstate Foundation, the majority of teens surveyed (56 percent) feel that their parents are the best source of useful information about financial matters. These new parent teaching tools are intended to foster dialogue about sound personal finance practices, with a goal of having families put these practices into action.

These new teaching tools respond to the heightened awareness that our future generation needs to understand the basics of personal finance, said Mary Grimball, President and CEO. The lessons are intended to get classrooms and families talking about finances, while providing young people with practical money management skills.

Junior Achievement also offers in-class K-12 programs focusing on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy-these programs are typically delivered by a volunteer from the local business community. Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina reaches more than 6,000 students annually with its financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work-readiness programs.

About Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 137 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional five million students served by operations in 123 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina encompasses 22 counties and anticipates reaching more than 6,000 students in 2008-09.  For more information, visit http://centralsc.ja.org or www.ja.org.

The Allstate Foundation                                                                                            

Established in 1952, The Allstate Foundation is an independent, charitable organization made possible by subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation. The Allstate Foundation partners with non-profit organizations on community initiatives that promote safe and vital communities, tolerance, inclusion, and diversity and economic empowerment. Teen driving and empowering victims of domestic violence have been major initiatives for the Foundation since 2005. For more information visit www.ProtectTeenDrivers.com or www.clicktoempower.com.