Junior Achievement Recognizes Their Best of 2014

COLUMBIA, SC- Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina recognized three individuals who have made a difference. Gloria Thomas, Robin Rawl and Joel Skipper were honored at the JACSC board meeting on September 10.

Gloria Thomas was awarded the JA 2014 Volunteer of the Year award for her service as a JA classroom volunteer for the past fourteen years in Fairfield County. Ms. Thomas has brought JA programs to more than 1000 South Carolina students and is teaching more this semester.  Employed by the S.C Department of Transportation, Ms. Thomas says “I always wanted to be a teacher. Sharing Junior Achievement programs with South Carolina students allows me to fulfill that teaching dream while sharing my other professional experience too. ”

Robin Rawl, was honored with a JA Twenty Year Service Pin, in recognition of her twenty plus years  as a volunteer teacher delivering JA programs. Ms. Rawl was also recognized for her many years of exemplary service on the Junior Achievement Board of Directors. Ms. Rawl is vice president of membership & sales for Club Corp-which owns and operates private clubs throughout the country, including Columbia’s Capital City Club.   “By sharing my professional experiences with students, I am able to help them see the connection between what they are learning in school today and their own future success,” Ms. Rawl explains, “It takes very little time on my part to make a difference in the lives of these young people.”

Joel Skipper was presented with a JA Ten Year Service Pin for volunteering in area high schools every year of his professional career, which officially began in 2004. Joel is a financial planner for Discipline Financial Management but started his own portfolio as a teenager. “I didn’t get an allowance as a child, so I had to figure out how to make money to buy the things I wanted,” explained Skipper. “I had Junior Achievement in high school myself and I know JA programs do help students recognize their own potential and visualize a path to a successful future.”

Stephanie Stuckey, president of Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina and Tyler Hudson, chairman of the JACSC Board of Directors presented the awards at the Board of Director’s annual meeting in September. “If we could clone these amazing people, students in South Carolina would never want for a volunteer,” laughed Ms. Stuckey.  Mr. Hudson, an executive vice president with NBSC, agreed.  “Each of these people do so much for JA and our community.  Their service reflects that they care about the futures of our youngest citizens and each of our honorees is an exceptional role model for our students.”

About Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Junior Achievement programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to effectively manage finances, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. For more information: http://ja.org