RIT Means Business by Helping Educate Rochester School Children

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More than 50 volunteers, including RIT students and alumni along with other professionals from the business community, will lead Junior Achievement classes for hundreds of children in grades kindergarten through 6 at Kodak Park School No. 41 on May 4.

The E. Philip Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology, Junior Achievement of Rochester and the Rochester School District are teaming up for the seventh straight year to educate school children about business, economics and free enterprise.

Each RIT alumnus and business professional will team up with a student from the Saunders College of Business who is majoring in a like field: accounting, finance, general management, management information systems or marketing.

“It’s never too early to start familiarizing young people with business concepts,” says Peter Rosenthal, associate director of student services in the Saunders College at RIT. “Our country’s free-market system depends on the contributions of, and decisions made by, citizens and workers. They make choices about their needs and wants based on quality, cost and time.

“This is the seventh year that we have matched a Saunders College of Business student with an RIT alumnus or other working professional for a day at School 41 to introduce these economic concepts through hands-on activities.”

William Prentice II ’99 (finance) volunteered for the Junior Achievement program last year at School No. 41, saying he was rewarded with the opportunity to positively impact a child.

“Reflecting on my academic experiences, I didn’t have a sense of the people who were impacting me and altering my direction in life,” says Prentice, president of Prentice Wealth Management. “JA in a Day can provide that opportunity in a unique way with a before and after picture of a college student working with a seasoned professional.

“I hope I can provide a small spark for these children, we all need it and you rarely know where it will come from.”

Twenty-six classes of students at School No. 41 will participate in the program. Volunteers will facilitate five hands-on lessons that vary by grade level—focusing on skills needed for specific jobs and how businesses use natural, human and capital resources from different regions, plus contrasting methods of production through role-play.

For more information, contact Peter Rosenthal at 585-475-7063 or prosenthal@saunders.rit.edu.