Junior Achievement Will Open a ‘JA Discovery Center’ at the Hillsboro Civic Center
Community input and vision sought during online listening session on January 26
Junior Achievement (JA), the national leader in youth financial literacy and business education, is announcing plans to open a ‘JA Discovery Center’ in Downtown Hillsboro in fall 2023. This will be JA USA’s 44th site in the United States.
In November 2022, the Hillsboro City Council approved a lease with Junior Achievement for 12,420 square feet of space on the second floor of the Hillsboro Civic Center directly above Outdoors In – Park @ the Plaza in Downtown Hillsboro.
The new JA Discovery Center in Hillsboro will provide access to approximately 98,000 students from the four counties in the Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD):
- Clatsop (4,835 students)
- Columbia (7,040 students)
- Tillamook (3,274 students)
- Washington (82,377 students)
“I am thrilled that Downtown Hillsboro will get to host students from throughout the four-county area to come visit and experience JA Biz Town,” said Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway. “When I was an elementary school principal, each year my students who participated in JA Biz Town would share that it was one of their top elementary school memories. It was a field trip that kids looked forward to, learned from, and came back enthused about the different roles they got to play.”
Delivering programs throughout the NWRESD will help Junior Achievement reach diverse student populations, including rural students, students from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and students from low-income families.
“We cannot wait to open America’s 44th JA Discovery Center in Downtown Hillsboro!” said Junior Achievement of Oregon & SW Washington President Ryan Deckert. “Bringing game-changing experiential learning to students, meeting those core life skills: financial literacy, career readiness, and teamwork… this is coming at just the right time for our kids!”
The new exhibit will be the local organization’s first local “flip site,” designed to host JA’s two signature programs: JA Biz Town and JA Finance Park.
Preliminary designs include 17 interactive areas or “businesses,” which will vary in size to represent diverse organizations. The site will be capable of serving 12,000 students each year.
Virtual Listening Session: Thursday, January 26
Junior Achievement is seeking input from primary stakeholders of the future JA Discovery Center in Hillsboro, including:
- educators
- students
- parents
- community partners
JA seeks collaboration through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) lens to generate collaborative dialogue, where students, families, and educators can brainstorm their visions for the physical interior design of the new Discovery Center.
A virtual listening session will be held on Zoom on Thursday, January 26, starting at 4 pm through 6 pm. Register for the virtual listening session on Thursday, January 26, at 4 pm
Full announcement with all details is on the City of Hillsboro website:
Junior Achievement Will Open a ‘JA Discovery Center’ at the Hillsboro Civic Center
Learn more about Junior Achievement of Oregon & SW Washington