Freshman Field Trip: JA Finance Park

Every school year, all Tippecanoe Valley freshmen are required to take Preparing For College and Careers, a course which helps  students learn about different career paths and college expectations. Also, through this class, they gain real-life experience by traveling to the Junior Achievement (JA) Finance Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana; it is a center where kids can learn how to make a budget and use it effectively.  Students from Mr. Darren Parker and Mr. Aaron Engbrecht’s attended the event for one day in October.

JA Finance Park is a not-for-profit organization, which, according to the group’s mission statement, empowers young people to own their future economic success by enhancing the relevancy of education.  Volunteers ranging from Fort Wayne community members to upperclassmen from Tippecanoe Valley helped at the event by supervising each station. After each student is given their marital status and number of children, they are instructed to “travel” to different businesses and create a budget not only for themselves, but their family members as well.   The stations are specific to their own category and are very unique.  From banks, automotive shops, and restaurants, to retail stores and entertainment, the JA Finance Park allows for students to make a budget for everything they will need in the real world.

At the end of the day, after “traveling” to various businesses, students calculate their final budget and see if they have any extra money remaining for either saving purposes or spending on a certain object.  After this, they can see how well (or how poorly) they created a budget.  This event helps students plan for the future and build skills they will need as well.

JAG Program

               JAG is a program and it is short for Jobs for America’s Graduates, and it is a new class offered at TVHS. JAG is a national Non for profit organization that specializes keeping students in school until they graduate and helping them succeed throughout the school year. The program also prepares them transition into the work force. JAG is a student led organization within the class with a focus on community service. Each student has to have a minimum of 10 hours of community service.

 The program is funded through the state, by Mitch Daniels who awarded six million dollars to the Indiana state JAG programs. So far the program is very successful. JAG is led by Mrs. Duran, a new teacher this year; she is in charge of the program and making sure the students are doing well in school. So far the program has eighteen students participating; they are able to have a maximum of forty students.

 The students have already taken a field trip to Wawasee high school and are looking to visit colleges.  Right now the class is launching an anti-bullying campaign through videos and posters.  JAG can also be described as a careers class that helps with business etiquette, appropriate business attire, and the students will learn how to write a resume. The class also helps with employability skills, scholarships, college preparation, and career options. JAG is  a great program that will help students get prepared for the future. 

Internship at TVHS

Internship is a great program that Juniors and Seniors can participate in to help them get prepared for their future career. Students can experience their career choice deeper and then they can decide if it will be a successful choice for them in the future. Most internship sites do not pay but give the students a chance to gain experience. Most jobs need training before you can start and internship helps them get that training. This is the fourth year that internship has successfully been going on.  The program has students leaving for a few hours either in the morning or in the afternoon. Mr. Parker (Darren Parker) is in charge of all the interns and internship sites. He helps make it possible for all the interns to have the experience they do.  

There are twenty-five students from TVHS who are interning this year. There are usually around twenty to twenty-five students every year who are involved with the program. Students can experience different career fields such as the medical field, veterinary science, agriculture, business, IT, journalism, education, ministry, finance, law enforcement, and many more.  The internship sites range from all over our community. Students get to participate in local businesses that accept interns. Any business that wants to have interns is available to, that way it gives students the chance to have a larger choice in internship sites.

               I am in internship myself and I am interning with Mr. Parker, I am experiencing what it is like to write stories and newsletters like journalists do. Next semester I get the opportunity to intern at the hospital. Having these experiences help me find out if the career field I want to be in is best for me. Internship is a great program that more students should participate in!

New Class: Political Sciences-Part One

            Seniors at Tippecanoe Valley High School can now choose to take Political Sciences, a dual-credit course through Grace College.  The class combines three different subjects: U.S. Government, Economics, and Advanced English, allowing students to get a total of four high school credits by the end of their senior year.   But, students get an opportunity to do something no Valley class has had the chance to do: they are going to create their own businesses.

            The Young Entrepreneurs’ Academy (YEA) is a program which helps teach students in grades 6-12 how to launch and run their own real businesses. One of the exciting factors to the class: not only will the seniors be creating and developing their own business/invention for a project; they also have the chance to win a trip to New York City.  Since this class has only just started, more information will be available soon!