When Tonya Villines reflects on her 10-year career as president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement of Arkansas, her thoughts turn to a young lady named Cierra.
Cierra was introduced to Junior Achievement -- or J.A. -- in second grade. By eighth grade, Cierra launched three businesses -- customizing and restoring sneakers, creating and designing T-shirts, and creating and customizing drumsticks, drum mallets and drum accessories.
Now Cierra is a freshman at a college in Nashville, Tenn., studying to be an elementary school teacher.
"I think of J.A. as sowing the seed into every one of their students. When a plant is planted into the ground, a gardener must water it and give it nutrients," Cierra says in a video showcasing the work of Junior Achievement.
"That's exactly what J.A. does -- it's sowing the seed into each and every one of their students. It gives them the nutrients and water, which is the knowledge and the mentorships that they give to every one of their students, and they sit back and watch each and every one of us grow. As we grow, we multiply and we are able to share what we've learned through them with other people, which is what I am doing today," Cierra says.
Junior Achievement of Arkansas was created in 1987. Since that time, the nonprofit organization has worked with almost 300,000 students across the state.
Junior Achievement relies on 400 volunteers like Jonathan Rushing to help children learn how to make and manage money, become ready to start a career and learn how to be entrepreneurs.
Rushing, chief operating officer at Arkansas Urology, got involved with J.A. about five years ago, teaching a business curriculum to second- and third-graders. He is now a member of J.A.'s board of directors and is chairing its Beach Bowl event from noon to 2 p.m. June 25 at Millennium Bowl in Maumelle.
"They have some basic civics lessons and government lessons, but at the core of it is mostly financial literacy and economics," Rushing says of the J.A. curriculum. "It's pretty amazing. They have different levels for different grades and it starts with elementary age kids and goes up to middle school and high school."
Rushing and his wife, Stacey, are the parents of two children. He has used the materials he was provided by J.A. to teach his kids how to save money, prepare for a career and become entrepreneurs. Coen, 13, is at Robinson Middle School, and Clair, 10, attends Chenal Elementary.
"My father was an entrepreneur and I kind of struggled when I got to college like a lot of folks did, in determining what my career path would be ... so this really lines up with some passions of mine," Rushing says.
Rushing has an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and an MBA from Southern Arkansas University.
Rushing says he has been surprised how quickly the second- and third-grade students he has worked with picked up on the concepts.
"It's really pretty fascinating how much of that they can grasp. When I looked through the curriculum I thought, 'Wow. This may be a little advanced.' But they have great things you can put on the [black] board and games you can play to keep them engaged," Rushing says. "The curriculum is really impressive, and it was pretty awesome the way they stayed engaged and they really seemed to grasp it."
Rushing says when he was working with a class of third-graders at Baker Elementary, he was surprised when he talked about the global economy.
"Of course, it is watered down for that age, but they really nailed it. I had a lot of questions that I would ask as an icebreaker and they would just answer them and get them right," he says. "I was really impressed with the economic knowledge over at Baker."
Junior Achievement volunteers work with 14,000 students at 50 schools across the state as well as at other nonprofit organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs. The money raised at various J.A. fundraising events -- like Beach Bowl -- stays within the host community.
"We are the passionate people behind a movement that seeks to educate and inspire young people to succeed in a global economy. ... It is our mission to put J.A.'s curriculum and resources into more households that otherwise would not have access to education, encouragement and community mentorship. The event proceeds raised from our Bowl A Thon will prepare 500 Central Arkansas students to be college- and career-ready," Villines says.
Rushing says Junior Achievement usually hosts a bowling tournament in the fall. The organization decided to add a summer event to help make up for donations that didn't happen during the pandemic. Tickets are $50. Sponsorships also are available. Up to 200 bowlers are expected to participate.
"We feel like folks are probably ready to come out and do something fun that is affordable," he says. "This is one of our lower cost options to support a good cause. Your entry fee gets you bowling, food and drinks, and it's an easy one to get folks on board with."
More information about Junior Achievement of Arkansas is available at juniorachievement.org/web/ja-arkansas/.
