Building Tomorrows
Help us with something BIG!
In 1999, JA of Southeast Texas launched the second JA BizTown (then Exchange City) facility in the United States. Nearly half a million students have passed through our building since then! Now, ours is the oldest still in operation, and it requires extensive capital improvements. We were pioneers over two decades ago, but we lag behind other regions of the country that have already invested in a new home for their JA BizTown and JA Finance Park experiences. We've been constrained by inadequate facilities and outdated technology. Our students and teachers deserve—and need—better.
Building Tomorrows with a JA Discovery Center
92%
of JA Finance Park students indicated their JA volunteer helped them realize the importance of staying in school.
69%
of students now intend to graduate among those who did not intend to graduate from high school at the onset of their JA Finance Park.
41%
of BizTown students favorably changed their future orientation or attitudes toward goal-setting.
25%
of students had a favorable change in their locus of control
How Will We Build Tomorrows?
The new JA Discovery Center will:
• Provide world-class, experiential, and immersive learning.
• Incorporate in-depth real-world simulations and showcase more local businesses and careers.
• Infuse cutting-edge technology that will drive increased student engagement and bridge the digital divide.
• Be accessible to students from under-resourced communities.
• Cover a 35,000-40,000 square-foot footprint.
• Afford adequate parking and school bus access, which our current
building lacks.
• Grow the number of students served in JA BizTown by 25% and JA Finance Park by 50%.
• Create efficiencies in staffing and programming by housing both at the same location.
Consider This
When our existing building opened 22 years ago, most people had flip phones. There was no video conferencing. We connected to the internet through dial-up. Dot-matrix printers created invoices for businesses to mail to their customers.
Today, 3D printers construct buildings.
We can’t predict future technological changes, only that they will happen.
Building Tomorrows LEGACY
The new JA Discovery Center will be an asset to the City of Houston and the entire southeast Texas region. With your help, Junior Achievement will continue to lead the way in preparing our community’s students to face tomorrow head-on, ready to take on every challenge and opportunity that comes their way.
Your gift is an investment in the next generation of leaders, innovators, doers, and makers who will shape our community and our 21st-century economy.
To make a legacy gift, or to learn more about naming opportunities for the JA Discovery Center, please contact Joe Burke at JBurke@Jahouston.org.