Junior Achievement of the Mahoning Valley’s has named Kent State University at Trumbull its 2018 Volunteer Organization of the Year.
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley board member, Dr. Dan Palmer, accepted the award at Junior Achievement's annual Recognition Breakfast.
“This is a rewarding partnership,” said Palmer. “We enjoy working with the students to teach them skills that will hopefully help them make connections between what they learn in the classroom and life skills they will need to know to prosper.”
Last December, Kent State Trumbull donated space and staff for more than 258 seventh-grade students to participate in JA Inspire, a day-long event featuring three break-out sessions on building a personal brand, career planning, and getting and keeping a job.
This spring, faculty and staff participated in JA for a Day, facilitating classes on financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship to seventh-and eighth-grade students from Girard Junior High School.
“Our relationship with Kent State Trumbull has really grown over the last few years,” said Michele Merkel, president. “We have even more planned for the rest of 2018 and in 2019.”
Besides hosting JA Inspire and participating in another JA in a Day, Kent State Trumbull will be hosting the JA Innovation Challenge on Friday, Dec. 14. The day-long event immerses middle school students into the world of business by challenging them to develop a proposal for a new type of pizza for a local franchise, Pizza Joe's, to target a market of their peers.
Other 2018 honorees include Trumbull County Educational Service Center (Education Partner), Tracie Balentine, Community Volunteer, Bill Doliber, SCORE Mentors, and Carl Foote, Aflac (Volunteers), and Chemical Bank and Patterson's Eye Care (Program and Special Events)
For more information about Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley, visit www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-mahoningvalley, or to become a volunteer, contact, Nicole Fond, Program Manager, at 330-539-5268 ext.203 or nicole.fond@ja.org.
Photo, left-right: Sarra Mohn, JA Mahoning Valley board member and co-owner, Jet Creative; Michele Merkel, president, JA Mahoning Valley; Dr. Dan Palmer, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs; Bill Burgess, marketing coordinator; and Dr. Jim Ritter, Director, Enrollment Management and Student Services