The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce recently participated in the nationwide Junior Achievement Economics for Success Diploma-See Day program. The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce reached out to its members, the local business community and staff, searching for positive adult role models interested in helping today’s youth develop the skills necessary to succeed in society and realize their potential. On April 18, 2008, over 1,000 volunteers consisting of business professionals, college students, parents and retirees visited numerous eighth grade classrooms in an effort to educate children about the economics of life and the value of education. The Junior Achievement program’s Diploma-See Day appropriately titled “The Economics for Success” was held at schools with a high percentage of children deemed at-risk such as Howard Bishop Middle School, Lincoln Middle School, Westwood Middle School, and Kanapaha Middle School and will eventually include every middle school in the Alachua County School District over the next five years. Hundreds of business leaders including Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce staff members participated in the Diploma-See Day program, which is a half-day event consisting of several hands-on activities aimed at helping the children develop the skills necessary to be successful while giving them practical advice and realistic situations with which to apply them. Volunteers are trained to ensure they understand the importance of the program and how to facilitate each activity in an effective fashion. The programs agenda focuses on a variety of topics such as: understanding the relationship between education and success in life, recognizing that a balanced budget is important for workers of all income levels, differentiating between gross and net income, the advantages and disadvantages of using credit and identifying the opportunity cost of having insurance. The volunteers’ passion and wisdom were visible and instrumental in the success of this program. “The volunteers were knowledgeable and really cared about the students understanding the concepts”, noted Ms. Manduley of Westwood Middle School. At this pivotal period in these students’ lives, when they are beginning to think about their future goals and aspirations, motivating words accompanied by the personal experiences of the volunteers can truly inspire them to work hard at accomplishing these goals and to attempt to achieve what they previously deemed impossible. Junior Achievement is a volunteer-driven non profit organization that strives to bring positivity and solutions to real-world situations to students across the nation. Junior Achievement aims at motivating students to look to their future potential and realize how to reach this potential while interacting with adults who themselves have reached their own personal goals in their lives. With over 2,000 volunteers in over 103 countries nationwide, Junior Achievement has quickly become the world’s largest and fastest-growing non-profit economic education organization. For more information on the Junior Achievement program and how you can become involved please visit www.jaalachua.org.