Junior Achievement Conference

“If your JAAC and you know it clap your hands!” last weekend’s Junior Achievement Conference, in St. John’s Newfoundland, was buzzing with the energy and enthusiasm of 200 high school students from all over Atlantic Canada! Everyone was eager to learn more about entrepreneurship and themselves, while meeting new people at the same time. Myself and three others attended from Millwood High school . We came back with not only the feeling of excitement for our future endeavors, but it was also with a great ending to our experience with the Junior Achievement “Company Program”.

Junior Achievement was formed in 1919. In 1969 it was started up in Nova Scotia. The mission statement, “To inspire and educate young Canadians to value free enterprise, understand business and economics and develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills”, describes perfectly what Junior Achievement has to offer to students.

The Company Program, which takes place over the course of 18 weeks, allows high school students to organize and operate their own business. This includes; electing the President and Vice presidents, selling shares, creating a business plan, buying supplies, advertising, producing and assembling the products while managing the inventory, selling of the product, liquidizing, shareholders reports, and finally paying out of salaries, commissions and dividends. All of this while being lead by advisors who have experience in such areas and great ideas to help along the way!

This year our company at Millwood High, “Bee My Honey”, decided to make beeswax candles. Research was done and wax was ordered in from Alberta. Everyone was taught how to roll candles and the executives had officer training at the Maritime Life building, then we got on our way! We participated in the annual trades fair at Penhorn Mall and had various selling opportunities at offices and also Bedford Place Mall. Getting started was hard, but once things got going our selling picked up. We ended off the year with $4,000, meeting our breakeven, which was approximately $2.600! Thank you to everyone in the community who were very supportive while we went door-to-door selling!

Sackville is filled with many creative young people who may very well be entrepreneurs one day, be on the lookout!