Local Junior Achievement Chapter Educating Youth in Brazoria County for over 50 Years. During the recent "JA in a Day" at Lanier Middle School, the entire 6th grade, approx 300 students were  taught our "Economics of Staying in School" Program.                See Photo Album 

Junior Achievement of Brazoria County, or JA, has been educating youth of Brazoria County for over 50 years, but it’s staying young at heart by committing heart and mission to the youth of our community. JA is known for building a bridge between education and the business world. By teaching youth the importance of a good work ethic, money management, leadership and basic business sense, JA shows them how important these skills are to becoming self sufficient in the future

Originally started in Massachusetts in 1919 as an after-school program, Junior Achievement has programs during and after school in elementary, intermediate, and high schools touching more than 7 million students Worldwide. Locally, some of these programs include:  Economics for Success, Dollars & Sense, Personal Finance, Titan and the Economics of Staying in School, plus the 9 other Elementary & Middle grade programs.

 JA of Brazoria County started with only 200 students in 1956.  During the 2006-07 school year, almost 10,000 K-12 students will be impacted by JA programs in the seven school districts of Brazoria County as well as parochial and private schools.  Over the past 50 years JA Brazoria County has taught programs to over 268,000 students and has spread from a small Brazosport ISD program to a county wide effort utilizing upwards of 500 volunteers annually as classroom consultants, special event coordinators, and Volunteer Board members. 

 Founding fathers for JA of Brazoria County include: A.P. Beutel, O.L. Bass, Ray Charron, D.V. Collins, J.F. Crews, Horace Owings, Vernon Richards, J.C. Sanders, B.O. Smith, V.A. Thorpe, Jack W. Waltrip and J.L. Wilson. 

Virginia Hopes knows all about JA’s programs. For the past 25 years she has been volunteering to teach JA in the classrooms of several different counties. Hopes, a resounding JA success story, first started in JA in Freeport as a student.  “At an early age I felt you had to be athletic or musically inclined to soar, but it was through Junior Achievement that I first got the notion that I too could be an entrepreneur.”  Today Hopes owns Fashion Fare boutique in Houston, Lewis BBQ in Freeport and Beach rental Condos in Galveston. “I had gained so much from Junior Achievement as a student, I just wanted to give something back,” says Hopes.

 Junior Achievement wants students to be successful in business; they also try and teach them ways to be successful in life.  “Not every student will become an entrepreneur, but every student needs to know basic money management in order to become a self-sufficient adult”, says Kim Effenberger, JA Brazoria County, President.

 Junior Achievement of Brazoria County is currently taking nominations for the 8^th annual Brazoria County Business Hall of Fame scheduled for September 13, 2007 at the Lake Jackson Civic Center.   The Business Hall of Fame honors esteemed business and humanitarian leaders of Brazoria County.  These Laureates will join an elite group of twenty-nine Entrepreneurial Community Leaders that have helped Brazoria County become what it is today.  Other Hall of Famers include:  Joe A. Denton, Robert E. Franklin, Jack Garrett, H.H. “Mac” McClure, J.L. “Bo” Wilson, Ravi Singhania, A.P. Beutel, Clyde Neal, Roger Peterson, Vic Coppinger, Raymond Burroughs, W. V. “Buster” Curry, James Collins, David Smith, Donald Nigbor, Mary Ruth Rhodenbaugh, Julia May, Doyle L. Swindell, Sands S. Weems III, Johnny Suggs, Ollie Maricle, Ernie Rae, Pete Reixach, Sehon Warneke, Dr. Rodney Allbright, Dr. Millicent Valek-May, Harold H Monical, Lynn L Monical and Dr. Bob Schwebel.

 These individuals demonstrated courageous thinking and actions, vision and innovation, inspiring leadership and community mindedness.  Stated more simply, their work has moved Brazoria County in a better, stronger direction.  For more information contact the Junior Achievement office at (979) 549-0800, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or check out the website at www.ja-brazoriacounty.org .