FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

La Mesa, California – High school seniors from Lincoln High School in Southeast San Diego will be going on a very specific shopping spree next Tuesday. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, the shopping trip is for students to buy  office and work clothes for paid internships this semester. It will take place on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 from 8:30-10:00 am at the Burlington Coat Factory in La Mesa, California. The store will be opening an hour before regular business hours to give students the entire store to themselves.

All the students are enrolled in unique, in-class, year-long experience in partnership with Junior Achievement of San Diego County (JA San Diego), called JA Fellows. This program provides mentors, “real world” experiences, and work-based learning to underrepresented students to empower their future success. Through the JA Fellows program, students have been connected to internships with local businesses including Jack in the Box corporate headquarters, Cox Communications, YMCA of San Diego, and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

“As we approach the start of our internships, our Fellows have expressed excitement and nervousness about the upcoming opportunity,” said Junior Achievement Program Outreach Manager Adam Armas who oversees the JA Fellows program. “In the short term, this shopping trip will provide students with the confidence of looking like the young professionals they are. In the long term, this shopping trip represents a launchpad; access to opportunities/resources like paid internships and professional mentors are often out of reach for students in historically underresourced communities like Southeast San Diego. We want them to see their future selves today.”

About Junior Achievement of San Diego
Junior Achievement of San Diego (JA) has been inspiring and equipping San Diego youth to achieve economic success by planning for their futures and making informed academic and career choices since 1950. By deploying proven, experiential programs like BizTown program, JA also reaches more than 20,000 students annually through programs such as BizTown, Finance Park, and the JA Company program which help students build financial literacy, work-readiness, and entrepreneurship skills. Annually, more than 3,000 volunteers serve as role models and enable JA to deliver experiential programs to students in 36 county school districts

Media Contact
Catherine Van Weele, JA San Diego
cvanweele@jasandiego.org
619-906-4909