London Inc. Spring 2021 - 21

" THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN REALLY
CHALLENGING, BUT ALSO REFRESHING.
WE WILL GO BACK INTO CLASSROOMS,
BUT I DON'T SEE US TOTALLY GOING
BACK TO THE PREVIOUS WAYS OF
DELIVERING JA PROGRAMS " -Karen Chafe
Financial literacy education, which has always been
delivered by JA in school classrooms by trained volunteers,
hasn't been possible during the pandemic. To overcome that
hurdle, JA created the JACampus.org where teachers can
access program materials and resources to teach ﬁnancial
education with the assistance of virtual volunteers.
There are also self-directed courses that parents and students can access from home. The courses range in scope
from teaching the business essentials for a successful
career in the trades to investment basics aimed at helping
youth save and plan for the future.
Local teachers have made good use of the new virtual
programs - JA SWO is on track to engage approximately
7,000 students in the 2020-21 school year.

Other programs were also pivoted.
For example, World of Choices, traditionally an annual in-person and
interactive conference where students could learn about career paths
directly from professionals who work
in different ﬁelds, was moved online
and revamped to ﬁt the quadmester
schedule of high schools.
In total, JA South Western Ontario
and JA Waterloo have been able to
host 12 virtual events across the school year, featuring
keynote speakers and breakout sessions tied to a variety
of themes, including Empowered Women in early March,
which featured a diverse lineup of female CEOs, entrepreneurs and innovators.
Putting a ﬂexible, virtual delivery model in play, notes
Chafe, has also enabled JA to reach youth in smaller
communities and engage students who might not otherwise
be involved in JA programs.
" This past year has been really challenging, but also
refreshing, " she says. " We will go back into classrooms, but
I don't see us totally going back to the previous ways of
delivering JA programs. "
KYM WOLFE

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SPRING 2021 | londonincmagazine.ca | 21

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London Inc. Spring 2021

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