Junior Achievement joins chamber in skills program

A new school-to-career program announced Thursday combines two successful programs used locally for years.

A partnership between the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement of Northern Alabama is designed to pass on the skills, knowledge and motivation needed to be successful in school, at work and in life, while making sure a qualified labor pool is available to meet future employment demands here.

The program aims to reach 50,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12 across Huntsville and Madison County in the next five years.

The effort is a way "to do something right for our kids and our community," said Joe Austin, the chamber's vice president of workforce and a member of Junior Achievement's executive committee. "Our job is to put (students) on a path to be productive citizens."

The partnership will mean greater access to community and business leaders for Junior Achievement, said Tim Higgins, the chairman of Junior Achievement's board of directors. The organization uses volunteers to teach young people about business, economics and free enterprise. He said he believes students will be able to relate well to volunteers who can share real-life business experience.

"Our interim goal this year is to reach 10,000 students," Higgins said. The program will show young people the economic impact of staying in school, he said, hopefully leading to a significant reduction in the school dropout rate within five years.

The chamber is already helping Junior Achievement recruit business professionals to put programs in place throughout Madison County. The chamber and Junior Achievement will work with area businesses, school systems and community leaders to develop economics education programs.