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Junior Achievement 70 years old, still growing strong

Anniversary of organization that helps more than 5,000 area students celebrated.

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By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer 11:32 PM Thursday, May 14, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — Junior Achievement isn’t getting stale. In fact, the 70-year-old organization is fresher today than when it was founded in 1939.

Because of the sluggish economy, the goal of Junior Achievement — teaching students financial fundamentals — is even more relevant today, said Doug Boyd, president of Middletown Area Junior Achievement for 34 years.

“We have a rich heritage in this area,” Boyd said. “We have touched so many lives. It’s great that it has thrived for all these years. We have a good story to tell.”

The story celebrated another chapter — its 70th anniversary — with a birthday bash Thursday, May 14, at the Manchester Inn. Boyd credited dedicated volunteers and longtime board members for the success of Junior Achievement, which teaches 5,000 students in 27 schools in the Middletown, Franklin, Edgewood, Madison, Carlisle, Springboro, Lebanon and Waynesville school districts.

He said Bob McDade and Harry Pratt have been JA board members for 50 and 49 years, respectively. Many volunteers, he said, have been associated with JA for 15 to 20 years.

“They re-up and that makes my job a lot easier,” Boyd said.

As Boyd talked, he sat behind a desk that belonged to the late Charles R. Hook, former president of Armco and founder of Middletown JA, the oldest such organization in Ohio.

He said Hook brought Junior Achievement — popular on the East Coast — to the Midwest and planted the first seed in Middletown.

“It all started with him,” Boyd said.

He said Hook became a member of the national Board of Directors and remained active until his death.

Boyd said the organization serves 9.3 million students through JA chapters in all 50 states and in 120 countries.

In the early days of Junior Achievement, students were taught about the Depression, and how to make work for a group of enterprising students. The students organized a company, elected officers, selected a product to produce, then sold stock to raise capital. The company paid dividends to its stockholders at the end of the school year when each company closed.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.