Now, Give to Lincoln Day is back! Tomorrow will be another 24 hours of generous giving and community impact, and Junior Achievement of Lincoln sincerely hopes that you’ll remember us as you decide how you’ll contribute. Your donations send a message– where you see value, what you believe in, and who you know is making an impact in our community. As a friend of JA of Lincoln, we hope that you’d put us in those categories!

Of course, Give to Lincoln Day also fits perfectly into our mission and message at Junior Achievement. One of our goals is always to teach young people how to manage their money efficiently– and what could be more efficient than making a donation at a time when your money will go even further?

And here’s some more good news– you don’t have to wait until tomorrow to make your Give to Lincoln donation to JA of Lincoln! New this year, you can schedule your donation in advance! Here’s how:

Easy steps to give today, but schedule the donation for the actual Giving Day!

1. Go to: http://givetolincoln.razoo.com/story/Junior-Achievement-6
2. Select the amount you’d like to give
3. From the pull-down list, select “Make this donation occur On Giving Day”

As always, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you do to support JA of Lincoln. Because of you, young people in our community are learning the financial tools and strategies that will serve them throughout their entire lives. You truly are the reason we are able to build a brighter future for Lincoln and its students, one classroom at a time.

Thank you!

As we’ve mentioned before, the concept behind Bank on Youth is simple – as a classroom, students decide on something they’d like to buy for their school. This year, goals ranged from Kindle Fires to learning games to donations to charities. They figure out how much money they’ll need, and then they start saving. Students did chores at home, held bake sales, and participated in school fundraisers. At the end of the year, the classrooms that worked the hardest earned matching (or far beyond matching! grants from State Farm).

This year’s largest grant ($2,000!) went to the kindergarten classrooms of Kathie Rynearson and Rebecca Grooms at St. John’s School, where the students worked together to raise $1,987 to replace the rugs in their classrooms and buy new math activities. State Farm also provided $500-$1,000 grants to ten other public kindergarten teachers and their students.

Other teachers and schools to be recognized are: Kristine Ray, West Lincoln Elementary; Andrea Woita, Cyndi Tyler, Kari Sawyer, Chantelle Schroeder, Meadow Lane Elementary; Kristine Wendelin, Kahoa Elementary; and Karen Vontz, Clinton Elementary.

JA and State Farm launched the Bank on Youth program last year specifically to help kindergarten students understand the concepts of earning, saving and goal setting. Teachers who chose to participate were provided a classroom piggy bank, curriculum materials and posters with stickers to help students mark their progress.

Thanks and congratulations to all the teachers and students who participated! And of course, thank you to State Farm for their generous support of our youngest students!

St. John the Apostle

West Lincoln Elementary

Meadow Lane Elementary

Kahoa Elementary

Clinton Elementary

Alexander was a participant in this year’s JA of Lincoln Driven Youth Invitational, and this young man seems to be us to be the embodiment of driven. His 4.0 GPA puts him first in his class of 291 students. He has an impressive resume of volunteer, work, and extracurricular experiences. And despite his young age, his objective is clear – Alexander wants to be the next CEO of Ford Motor Company.

In his scholarship application essay, Alexander’s focus was on a CEO’s ultimate responsibility for the company that he is running. “No matter what caused the company to be in turmoil, whether it was financial issues, a couple bad decisions or making some bad investments, it all comes back to the CEO of that particular company. In the end, it is the CEO who is responsible for the success or failure of their company.” He wrote about the respect and dignity that must be maintained for all employees, especially in times involving downsizing or layoffs. We can only hope that Alexander is representative of the next generation of CEOs – highly driven, but with a strong principles and solid ethics.

From all of us at JA of Lincoln, congratulations to Alexander and the rest of our 2013 scholarship winners. We can’t wait to see the impact you’ll have on the world!

That’s why we want to introduce you to each of our winners individually over the next few weeks. We think you’ll be as impressed and encouraged as we are. We begin with Matt Foley, winner of the $1,000 Dan Remigio Scholarship.

Matt is a senior at Pius X High School, where his perfect 4.0 GPA ranks him first out of his 286 classmates. He’s a baseball fanatic, with four years of Pius X baseball, four years of American Legion baseball, and a year as a Babe Ruth umpire on his resume. He plans to attend UNL for a degree in Business Administration, with the ultimate goal of working in (you guessed it!) baseball. Matt says his career goal is to work in the front office of a major league baseball team.

In his scholarship application, Matt wrote about the impact that JA’s Driven Youth Invitational had on how he views his future. He says the clearest message for him was about the importance of passion in a successful career. “As a culture, we need to embrace our ability to combine our individual traits for greatness. Finding something that makes you happy and not just the largest paycheck is the way to ensure that we are not settling in our career choice. As the saying goes, ‘It is better to fail at something you love than be good at something you hate.’ Together our generation of achievement can inspire a new wave of ideas and imagination in today’s economy!”

We have no doubt that Matt will keep turning his passions into successes, and we wish him the best of everything in his college career and beyond.

Congratulations again to all of our 2013 Junior Achievement of Lincoln scholarship winners!

To that end, academic scholarships totaling $3,250 were awarded to high school seniors with a record of academic success and achievements in JA of Lincoln’s programs. The scholarship recipients include:

Dan Remigio Scholarship $1,000
Matt Foley, Lincoln Pius X Catholic High School

Ken Carlson Scholarship $1,000
Alexander VanAckeren, Lincoln Pius X Catholic High School

Pepsi-Cola Scholarship $750
Katie Wandzilak, Lincoln Southeast High School

John Ballew Memorial Scholarship $500
Lauren Hupf, Lincoln Pius X Catholic High School

Stay tuned for individual profiles of these amazing students. We think you’ll be as impressed as we were.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

The annual JA of Lincoln Golf Classic is quickly approaching, and of course we want YOU to get involved! The big event will be on June 8th at HiMark Golf Course. We’ll be up and at ‘em early, with a 7am breakfast followed by an 8am shotgun start. That will kick off your great day of 18 holes of golf, a buffet lunch, awards ceremony, silent auction, and prizes and surprises throughout. If there’s anything better than a day of golfing, it’s a day of golfing for the kids, knowing that all your contributions are making a difference in our community. It’s the very definition of a win-win!

Team spots are filling up quickly, and we’re also on the hunt for sponsors of all levels, as well as donations of prizes and silent auction items. To get involved contact Jessica at jstates@jalincoln.org or at 402-467-4479, or click here for all the details!

So what are you waiting for? Head to your nearest Super Saver or Russ’s Market today, pick up some Pepsi, and help us quench the thirst for knowledge in students all over Southeastern Nebraska!

Thank you to our friends at Pepsi and B&R Stores!

Operation Bright Future is the largest fundraising effort in the history of Junior Achievement of Lincoln. In order to secure a $100,000 donation from an anonymous donor, we’re striving to meet an ambitious fundraising goal. If we can do it, it will secure our ability to impact Lincoln’s students for years to come!

Sometimes, all the ingredients come together in a way that is truly exceptional. Partnerships are formed, creativity and productivity blossom, and the students are the big winners. The relationship between Park Middle School and Total Manufacturing Company (TMCO) is one of those instances.

Over the past few years, TMCO has given tours of their facility to 35 classes of Junior Achievement students. Every school year, there are between 8-12 classrooms at Park that TMCO provides the volunteers for, ranging in ages from 6th-8th graders. The partnership between TMCO and Park started in 2008-2009 with just one Park class with a TMCO volunteer. By 2010 that number had grown to 12 classrooms, and it continued each year since!

Here’s what Park Middle School teacher Lori Luedtke has to say about the relationship with TMCO and their JA volunteer, Shawn Troyer: “Junior Achievement has been a wonderful addition to my business education classroom for the last several years; and I have been very fortunate to have worked with a very generous partner in TMCO, Total Manufacturing Company, for each of those years. It is one thing to hear lessons from your teacher but when it is reiterated by adults from the business world the lessons all come together. As one of my students told me just yesterday, ‘Mr. Troyer, TMCO and Junior Achievement have really made me think about money, making good choices, education and the business world’ and that’s exactly what we are striving to teach!”

Thank you to TMCO for being so willing to invest in Lincoln’s youth!

The best way we know to do that is through college scholarships! Every year at this time, we put the call out for Lincoln’s best and brightest high school seniors. We’ve got several $500 and $1,000 scholarships to give away, and we need your help get the word out. In order to apply, a student must have been part of a JA of Lincoln program at some point during their high school career – either as part of a high school class, the Driven Youth Invitational, or the Future CEO tournament. Beyond that, it’s all about motivation and ambition. We looking to help the go-getters take that next step toward a successful future.

Know a student who fits that description? Make sure they know about this great opportunity! For all the rules and a downloadable application, click here. But don’t wait! Scholarship applications are due by March 22, 2013, so time is running out!

And stay tuned later this school year to learn about the winners. We’re never disappointed by our amazing local students!

Well over a thousand people bowled in this year’s tournament, proving once again just how many individuals in our community stand behind JA of Lincoln and our mission. They bowled as teams of co-workers, friends, and families, all united in their support of Lincoln’s students and their future success.

And speaking of success… this year’s tournament also happened to be our most successful ever, raising more than $77,000! Thanks to the generosity and hard work of so many people, that total will allow us to spread our message of financial literacy and responsibility to more classrooms than ever before.

Of course, there were several individuals who bowled us over (pun intended!) with their generosity. There were the 57 company coordinators who recruited and organized the bowlers from their organizations. Standing above the rest was Connie White with National Research Corporation, who had 24 teams for the third year in a row! Those 24 teams raised more than $8,262 in pledges.

There were the 1,020 bowlers who did the work to raise the money, and then spent their day having fun on behalf of our kids. Amazingly, the same dedicated supporter came out on top – Connie White of National Research Corporation again raised the most in pledges this year with $3,640. Connie, we are so grateful for all your support! Coming in second was Steve Lane of IMSCORP with $2,433. There were four bowlers who raised over $500, three over $300, sixteen over $150 and 68 reaching the $75 level to earn rewards. Mike Zinniel with Nelnet was our top online fundraiser, bringing in $1,106.00 on his online fundraising page.

There were also the generous, community-minded sponsors who made it all possible. A big thank you to the Lincoln USBC Bowling Association, Allied Insurance/Nationwide, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., Amigos/King’s Classic, Black Hills Energy, BryanLGH Medical Center, B&RStores- Supersaver, Celerion, Garner Industries, Harry A. Koch Company, IMSCORP, John Blumer Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Legacy Retirement Communities, Lincoln Benefit Life, Lincoln Electric System, Lincoln Federal Savings Bank, Lincoln Industries, Molex, Nature’s Variety, Nebraska Book Company, Nelnet, Pinnacle Bank, Ray’s Lawn and Home Care, REAMS, Runza National, Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, Schneider Electric, Sun Tan City, Sysco Lincoln, T.O. Haas Tire Co., TMCO, U.S. Bank, Whitehead Inc. U-Stop Stores, Windstream, and of course our wonderful host bowling alleys – Parkway Lanes, Hollywood Bowl and Sun Valley Lanes!

We’d also like to thank our Rewards and Prize Donors: Bison, Inc., Papa John’s, Rixstine Trophy Co., U-Stop Convenience Stores, 48 Bowl, Inc., Advantage Personnel, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., Amigo’s/King’s Classic, Anytime Fitness, Applebee’s, Art F/X Screen Printing & Embroidery, Ashley Lynn’s Tanning, B & R Stores, SuperSaver, Black Hills Energy, Burger King/Horizon Foods, Buzzard Billy’s Armadillo Bar and Grillo, Celerion, daVinci’s, Holiday Inn Downtown, IMSCORP, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill/Fireworks, Lexus of Lincoln, Mulligan’s, Mr. Goodcents, National Research Corporation, Odessey Travel, Parkway Lanes, Quick Nick’s/Walker Tire, Residence Inn, Marriott, Sun Tan City, Three Eagles Communications, U.S. Bank, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Whitehead Oil/U-Stop Stores.

What can we say, other than THANK YOU? Thank you to all of our bowlers, company coordinators, volunteers, and sponsors. Thank you on behalf of the thousands of students all across Southeastern Nebraska who will have brighter futures thanks to your work and support. Thank you on behalf of our community, which will see decades of benefit as we build the better business leaders of tomorrow. Thank you for your support, generosity, and dedication. Thank you for helping us build a better tomorrow!