People love Steamboat for its strong sense of community, and part of that is its wide array of non-profit organizations that serve to give back to various groups and needs. It can be difficult, especially for people who are new to town, to know where to start when it comes to wanting to volunteer.
Sometimes, the answers come when you’re not even looking. That was the case for Courtney Savage, who landed herself the job of District Director for the Routt County District of Junior Achievement USA, a national organization that aims to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy, offering programs through local schools that introduce kids of all ages to entrepreneurship, career and work readiness and financial literacy.
JA is an international organization with a long history—it was originally founded in 1919 and started as an after-school program that was eventually integrated into school curriculums in 1975 and aligned with national and state educational standards. Today JA reaches over 3 million students nationally per year thanks to 150,000 volunteers, with headquarters in Colorado Springs and a regional Rocky Mountain office in Denver. The Routt County office was founded relatively recently, in 2016, and does all its own fundraising, solicits school participation, and volunteer recruitment and training. “We are very fortunate that many of our founding board members had experiences with JA in the Front Range and knew about the amazing resources the organization offered and wanted that opportunity for students in Steamboat,” Savage says.
Savage helps recruit volunteers to go into classrooms to facilitate JA’s curriculum and currently has nine participating schools in Routt County, including Hayden Elementary and Middle Schools. In 2022-23, JA reached 1,350 students in 62 classrooms with 66 volunteers. “It was incredibly rewarding to volunteer for JA and watch the 3rd graders’ excitement and engagement when learning about how an economy works,” says Traci Hiatt, a Routt County JA volunteer. “It was magical to see their enthusiasm, as they learned about earning, spending, saving and donating, and how a city functions through the flow of money.”
Through JA curriculum, kids learn fundamental knowledge about finance and career opportunities, and how money moves through a community, Savage says. “The ultimate vision is to help young people build a skillset and a mindset for the future, to inspire them to succeed in a global community,” Savage says. “Our hope is they take that confidence and knowledge with them and parlay it into success. Plus, it’s a lot of fun.”
The curriculum is designed to make it simple for anyone who wants to volunteer to be able to facilitate, “but we encourage professionals from different fields to sprinkle in their experience, especially at the middle school and high school levels,” Savage says. “Any program that’s teaching real-world knowledge they need is very vital.”
Volunteers go into the classroom for a total of five sessions, once a week for five weeks. They are provided with a kit from JA that includes games, props, and other materials to lead activities. “There’s very little lecturing required. Key concepts and terminology is presented by the volunteer and then reinforced with hands-on activities and games. The teacher is there to help with support and classroom management.”
Savage says she wears many hats and often characterizes her role as a “very full-time, part-time job.” As the only employee on the payroll, Savage depends entirely on volunteers and encourages anyone who is interested to inquire for more information, and for teachers to know the JA curriculum is offered free of charge. “We are always looking for community-based volunteers, especially at middle and high school level. We want our kids to hear your story and learn about your career journey. It’s a great way for the business community to be involved with local schools.”
JA is a beneficiary of the Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty Fund in collaboration with the Yampa Valley Community Foundation to honor its commitment to support local charitable organizations. “We’re very thankful for the support from Sotheby’s,” Savage says. Now that’s what we like to call making the grade. //JAcolorado.org.