JA Young Entrepreneurs allows students to explore careers in sports and event management, including promoting and managing a Junior Achievement Night at the Falcons home game on March 20 at the MassMutual Center.
Front row: Hannah Nguyen, Cathedral; Arianna Medina, Easthampton High and Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative; Jessica Lessing, Chicopee; Christina Morales, Commerce. Second row: Deanna Gordon, Commerce; Jessika Lazala, Commerce; Stephanie Collins, Chicopee; Dorothea Polk, Chicopee. The students attended the Feb. 22 Falcons game (for many of them it was their first hockey game ever) to learn how to organize a game. They took notes and made a list of questions to ask Don Moorhouse, Falcons director of strategic sales, who was to speak to the group on Feb. 27.
SPRINGFIELD - For many kids, a career in sports is a dream come true. For some Western Massachusetts teenagers, that dream is becoming a reality.
Students from the High School of Commerce, Cathedral High School, Chicopee High School, Easthampton High School and the Lower Pioneer Valley Education Collaborative are participating in a program to build a sports promotion business named JA Young Entrepreneurs, or JAYE.
Junior Achievement has partnered with the Springfield Falcons to develop this educational experience in which students explore careers in sports and event management. As part of the experience, JAYE will promote and manage a Junior Achievement Night at the Falcons home game on March 20 at the MassMutual Center.
Tickets are $15, and all proceeds will benefit Junior Achievement. Students are organizing all facets of the game, from the singing of the national anthem to the puck drop and entertainment between periods.
"This is a great opportunity to work with passionate, enthusiastic young people and one of the area's leading professional sports teams. The students have formed a company, elected officers, created Facebook and Twitter pages. It's an amazing experience for me to work with them," said Jennifer A. Connolly, president of Junior Achievement.
JA Young Entrepreneurs have been determining the fundamental leadership principles needed to create an effective company environment, maintained accurate financial records, identified effective sales techniques and strategies and are compiling an annual report.
They set a sales goals of 1,000 tickets to the March 20 game.
Volunteers are guiding them through the business process. Volunteer speakers include Jim Mumm, president of Sandler Training, who will speak on selling techniques, Thomas J. Fox, of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp., who will discuss social media promotion, and Amanda Huston, professor at Elms College, who will talk about accounting and finance.
Tickets to the March 20 game are $15 and are available by calling (413) 747-7670 or emailing jconnolly@jawm.org