Leave Your Mark Everywhere

At risk students who have dropped out or been expelled from high school in St. Paul, Minnesota were given a unique opportunity that paid off. Through a program called High School for the Recording Arts (HRSA) these dropouts received their diplomas. It is a kind of bargaining that leverages the students’ love of music. They are encouraged to return to school. When they achieve satisfactory academic results, they are rewarded with studio time.

One group of students took their love of music a little further by joining the Junior Achievement (JA) program. The students’ business model made perfect sense. They used the resources available to them through their school—a recording studio, a radio station, and a student body—and their skills in radio production to deliver what businesses wanted most: customers. The combination was practical and innovative, and a successful radio advertising company, which they named L.Y.M.E. (Leave Your Mark Everywhere), was born.

The group promoted their customers effectively and rewarded their stockholders with a 400-percent return on their investments. They were also named the 2011 North American JA Company of the Year.

For the students, the win represented a job well done. For Kurtis Greenwood, one of L.Y.M.E.’s officers, it represented an entrepreneurial future. "This was the first step toward greatness and running my own business," he said. "Because of this experience, I know what I’m going to be—an entrepreneur. I also know I’ll get there through hard work and determination." These students went from high school dropouts to budding, young entrepreneurs—all thanks to a creative high school program and JA. This nonprofit youth organization partners with educators and business volunteers to provide experiential learning opportunities that are an important extension of traditional classroom work, bringing important, real-world concepts to life. Just like the L.Y.M.E team, students learn to think, to reason, and to dream about the possibilities for the future.

In Klamath Falls, Oregon, JA organized a Bowl-a-Thon. Community volunteers form bowling teams and raise money from their friends and family to support the local JA activities. Today’s gift was to give a donation for a Bowl-a-Thon participant so that kids can achieve their dreams and leave their mark everywhere.

In Giving,

Robin