AT&T and JA Job Shadows: A Partnership for Student Success

LOUISVILLE-AREA TEENS LEARN IMPORTANT WORKFORCE SKILLS THROUGH AT&T ASPIRE MENTORING ACADEMY

Programming gives students opportunity to shadow AT&T employees

Louisville, KY— Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana  is bringing important financial literacy lessons to at-risk students in Louisville as part of a contribution from AT&T, through its signature education initiative AT&T Aspire. High School students at Westport TAPP and South Park TAPP Schools were  assigned an AT&T mentor through the JA Job Shadow™ program on Wednesday, November 18, 2015.

JA Job Shadow™ begins in the classroom with three sessions to help students learn more about careers, including how to identify a career based on interests, steps in researching potential jobs and developing job-hunting skills like networking and interviewing. The students then will visit an AT&T corporate office to shadow an employee for half a day to see first-hand how education translates to a satisfying and successful career.  

“Some students may not have had strong positive role models in their daily lives,” says Sarah Wunderlin, Director of Program Advancement at JA of Kentuckiana “If this is the case, it can be harder for students to visualize success. With AT&T, we are giving students the opportunity to be exposed to different paths and to help them see that they too can achieve a rewarding career.”

During the 2015-2016 school year Junior Achievement and AT&T seek to impact more than 7,000 students nationwide. This could not be achieved without the support of AT&T mentors that are a part of the company’s Aspire Mentoring Academy program. Through Aspire Mentoring Academy, AT&T employees connect with students to help them discover their passions and potential. Aspire Mentoring Academy is part of AT&T Aspire, our signature initiative to promote student success in school and beyond.

“Mentoring is a two-way street and our volunteers also learn so much from the students,” says Debbie Pierce, Senior Market & Analysis Manager, Midwest/South Region “The students and mentors both walk away feel inspired. They’ve talked about passions, values, encourage, education – you name it. These students are ultimately the future of our company, and other companies worldwide, and it’s important to invest in them now.”

The collaboration between JA of Kentuckiana and AT&T is a continuation of their joint commitment to providing supplemental learning experiences that help young people in the community develop the competence, confidence and character to make smart academic and economic decisions.

See what students and AT&T mentors who have completed JA Job Shadow™ have to say about the program: http://youtu.be/L3NWazI2_UM.