This fall every Monday and Thursday afternoons, a team of HBS students will walk over to the Cambridge Rindge Latin High School (“CRLS”) to teach business classes through the JA Titan Program.
JA Titan is a web-based business simulation program that positions a team of CRLS students as a manufacturing company CEO. The CEO, under the guidance of HBS volunteers will make weekly managerial decisions on pricing, production, capital investments, marketing, acquisition, and research & development.
The students of CRLS will be participating in a statewide competition organized by Junior Achievement Inc. and sponsored by Hewlett Packard. Last year’s statewide competition involved over 1,000 students from 20 high schools in the region. Each winning team members won a laptop and a $500 savings bond. The competition begins on October 7 and runs till December 5.
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (“CRLS”) is the only public high school in Cambridge. CRLS is in need of increasing its academic standards and is actively seeking help from volunteers.
HBS volunteers will enjoy a real classroom atmosphere. Volunteers will teach a classroom of 10+ high school students during school’s Support and Enrichment Program periods on Mondays and Thursdays. A CRLS teacher will be present during each session to ensure class discipline. A weekly lesson plan will be provided; however, creativity in teaching the curriculum is also encouraged.
JA Titan is a low commitment community service. It only requires a 1-hour weekly commitment at CRLS (20 minutes walking distance from HBS Campus). Moreover, teams of 2 ~ 3 volunteers are assigned per classroom to cover for each other in case of schedule conflicts.
Your weekly one hour commitment will have a positive impact on all 10 students not only through your teaching but also your being there as a friend, mentor, and role model. Many students at CRLS lack a positive role model. Especially woman and students of color lack exposure to successful role models with whom they can identify. Please be that role model!
For further information, please contact Brandt Pyles, Seth Meisel, or Moon Lee. The Introduction and Training Session will be on September 23 (Monday), 3 – 5 PM.
Selected Testimonies from Last Year’s Volunteers:
Brandt Pyles: “The JA Titan competition was great. It is a super match with our education and allows us to cement our learning by teaching and I think is very engaging for the kids. It is also still challenging for us.”
Nicole Palczer: “MBA skills we were learning were totally in line with what the simulation was doing. Students were enthusiastic and I really enjoyed working with them on the business concepts each week. I was pretty impressed with the simulation, as well as the students!”
Brad Mendelson: “The competitive aspect of program really got the kids energized. I also enjoyed the plenty of one-on-one time with the kids.”
Jeffrey LeBlanc: “I really enjoyed the small size and structure of teams coupled with flexibility to deviate from the stated lesson plans.”
