JA It's My Business

JA It's My Business! Blended Model provides middle school students an opportunity to learn how to turn an idea into a business. The program introduces students to the process of design thinking as a problem- solving process and provides an authentic entrepreneurial experience for students with each session building toward a product-pitch competition.

Following participation in the program, students will be able to identify their own personal entrepreneurial characteristics; engage in the process of design thinking to empathize with a problem; develop a business startup from its ideation, innovation, and market research through its design and prototyping; pitch their new business idea to potential funders.

The program targets students in grades six, seven, and eight for either Classroom-Based or JA After School implementation. It consists of six 45-minutes sessions led by a volunteer with Additional Opportunities and 15-minute extension activities offered throughout. JA It's My Business! is offered as JA In a Day which is five 50 minute sessions in a single day.

All JA programs are designed to support the skills and competencies identified by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. JA programs also correlate to state standards in social studies, English, and mathematics, and to Common Core State Standards.