Grant allows program to reach pupils at Taft

YSU students and volunteers from the business community will help.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley Inc. has received a $7,500 grant to take its programs into Taft Elementary School on Avondale Avenue.
The money comes from the Kennedy Family Foundation, a component foundation of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.
The grant will enable Junior Achievement to buy program materials and insurance for 19 classrooms at Taft, reaching more than 475 pupils.
What is planned
The plan is to implement five programs at Taft, one each for kindergarten through the fourth grade.
They are:
UKindergarten -- "Ourselves" uses stories read aloud by a volunteer, along with hands-on activities, to demonstrate helping, working, earning and saving.
UFirst grade -- "Our Families" emphasizes the roles people play in the local economy and engages pupils with activities about needs, wants, jobs, tools, skills and interdependence.
USecond grade -- "Our Community" teaches children about businesses that operate in the community, how the government works to support services for citizens and the responsibilities and opportunities that citizens have in their economic community.
UThird grade -- "Our City" teaches pupils about businesses found in a typical city and the types of workers they require. Participants conduct business operations, make city-planning decisions and examine economic development issues.
UFourth grade -- "Our Region" features the economic/business resources found in state and regional economies.
Junior Achievement will bring a diverse group of people together to assist with the program, including Youngstown State University students and volunteers from the business community.
The hands-on learning that Junior Achievement provides enables children to make connections between what they are learning in the classroom and their own real-world experiences.
"The skills the students will require through the use of the Junior Achievement material will be valuable to them in the learning process," said Patricia Scalzo, Taft's guidance counselor.