May 5, 2017
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
Tori Ruis firmly believes having professionals face-to-face with students in the classroom is one of the most impactful experiences for her students and the greater good of the Oakland Middle School.
Ruis is near the end of her first school year as principal.
Hearing firsthand from the community is important in the development of a student and, likewise, Ruis said it’s just as important for the community to be personally involved in area schools.
That’s precisely what the Junior Achievement in a Day program is providing several Rutherford County Schools.
State Farm leaders were also at Oakland Middle to provide Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee with a $20,000 donation to help fund the JA in a Day program. Junior Achievement is a nonprofit that receives no state or federal funding. Instead they raise funds through events, grants and donations like the one State Farm provided.
The 10-year-old program was at Oakland Middle and John Colemon Elementary schools this week. Over the next couple of weeks they will be at Stewarts Creek and Siegel middle schools along with LaVergne Lake Elementary.
Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee pairs volunteers with area schools in which students rotate from class to class with professionals teaching various life skills sessions.
“The seventh grade program is called ‘Economics for Success’ and our eighth grade program is called ‘JA is My Future,’” said Karen Boom, who provides program support for Junior Achievement.
Boom previously spent nine years as a program manager.
“The volunteers are in the classroom getting students engaged,” Boom said. “Our programs are hands on. They’re working on activities. They’re in groups and coming up with their own ideas.”
Students take part in professional sessions related to everything from personal finance to personal branding.
Avery Casteel and Cameron Crutchfield were two of the students at Oakland Middle who participated in this year’s JA in a Day program.
The eighth grades, who will attend Oakland High School as freshmen next fall, made particular mention of the resume building and personal branding session.
Casteel took away the importance of being self-aware.
Crutchfield agreed.
He noted the importance of making a positive first impression and the idea that the impression they make on people will stay with them.
“You need to watch what you’re doing,” he said, “and always try to do what’s best for you.”
Casteel added, “For people who don’t care about their future maybe this was eye-opening.”
Casteel has already chosen her high school pathway and will be enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, while Crutchfield chose mechatronics.
“I think it makes an impact on the kids,” Ruis said. “When Ms. (Kimberly) Young came to me about this … it was a no-brainer for me just because of the community aspect. I want the community as involved as possible in our school.”
Ruis added, “They’re stakeholders and the more invested the people outside the school are, the more likely the school is going to be successful, so I want them to care about it as much as everyone within in these walls care about it.”
There were 35 volunteers at the school on Wednesday, according to Boom, and 24 of those were from State Farm.
Each of the seventh and eighth grade classes met with five different professionals throughout the day. The sixth session was led by one of their own teachers.
“If we can catch them in middle school,” said Boom, who explained the goal is for students to succeed in a global economy, “get them thinking about what they want to do in high school and then go onto college level classes and into their career, if we back up and get them thinking about that now they can make better choices in high school and in college.”