JA of Southeastern Pennsylvania- Stories
Denim2Denim--Growing by leaps and bounds
It's a simple idea really—take old jeans and repurpose them into something new. So what makes these old jeans so special? It isn't that the bags they've been turned into are the latest new fashion item or the "it" gift for the next holiday
season. You can't even buy them anymore. What makes them special are the students and volunteers that created them…and the lasting impact they have on the future of so many bright students.
Ruth's Story- I never saw myself as a leader...
Ruth was a shy kid, which made high school hard. In class, she always sat in the back and didn't participate much. She got an email one day from her school about the JA Company Program. "I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Just that I wanted to help people." It's not uncommon for high school students to be unsure of their direction. And Ruth was no different. Maybe she'd figured that out with this program. But she was a shy student and signing up was a stretch for her.
Oscar's Story - What I Could Make of Myself...
Oscar got involved with Junior Achievement during his junior and senior years of high school. "This program was transformative for me." At the start of his junior year, Oscar was a straight C and D student. In his words, he had a "no homework policy". He thought that school was a waste of time and nothing he was learning seemed practical. One day someone from Junior Achievement visited his high school to talk about the Company Program. A friend of his decided to apply, so Oscar did too.
Tamani's Story - Plant a Seed...
Craig's Story - Taking the Plunge...
Even though Craig was a JA alumni, he was nervous about teaching. "I had some trepidation in the beginning," he said, but he remembered participating in the company program when he was a student. So when a list of charitable opportunities came to him from Bank of America where he's worked for 6 years, JA rang a bell. The school they were volunteering at was close by and he'd have the chance to help kids from economically challenged families, which was important to him. "Gotta take the plunge!" he thought.
