Learning
Experiences

Teacher-Led programs allow teachers to use the JA resources to run the program with their students. Teachers will have access to the JA Campus where they can find the digital resources. Support will be provided by a JA staff contact for questions or any issues they may have with the JA Campus. JA does not provide a program facilitator for the teacher-led programs, as the teacher is running the session. Volunteer-Led programs are facilitated by a trained JA presenter. The presenter will run all the activities with the class during a set date/time. The teacher must remain on the session for classroom management; however, your JA presenters will be responsible for running the presentation. Your JA staff contact will provide you with your student workbooks and activities (program dependent) for your JA in-person volunteer-led program. Virtual Volunteer-Led programs are the same as in-person volunteer-led but are condensed versions of the program (usually 90 minutes). Online programs take place using an online video tool (such as Google Meet).

Unfortunately not. JA programs are dependent on funding and presenters. Thanks to our many corporate partners, grants, and some government funding, we can provide JA programs to schools at no-cost. When programs are available, a JA Program Manager will reach out to registered classes to offer a date. We do our best to offer our programming to as many of our registered classes as possible.

It is possible to register for more than one program, however, classes are generally only offered one program per year. We often have more requests than we do have availability for programming, so to ensure that as many classes as possible can participate in our programs, we don’t typically offer two programs to the same class. Students are welcome to continue their learning on our JA Campus where we have self-directed programs and games.

It is possible to register for a higher grade level program, although we do try to book classes for the recommended grades. However, if you feel a different program would be more appropriate for your class, please indicate this in the comments section of your registration and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

If you have registered separately or for a different program than your colleague, you may not receive the program at the same time. We book our programs throughout the school year depending on when we have presenters and/or support for the program. We cannot guarantee when a class will receive a program. We do our best to reach as many of our registered classes as possible.
Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] and we can confirm that your class is registered for the program.

At JA Central Ontario, our programs are available to schools located in our catchment area: Toronto, York, Peel, Durham, Simcoe, and Halton regions. If your school is in one of these regions, please register for our programs here.
If your school is located outside of this area, please visit https://jacanada.org/our-locations to find the JA Charter closest to you.

If you work for a youth community organization such as a library or other youth initiative, please reach out to us. We may have an opportunity for your group. Contact us at [email protected], and we will connect you with someone from our team who will see if we have available funded programming for your group.

JA programs are educational and many of the concepts that are included in the program complement the learning objectives in the Ontario Ministry of Education curriculums. If you would like to see how the program you’ve registered for will complement what you’re already teaching with your students, please reach out to your JA contact. The JA program isn’t intended to replace any of the information being taught in the classroom, but the program may be used to complement what is being taught and reinforce some of those concepts.
Many of our programs have a focus on financial literacy. Teachers may choose to include the JA program to help meet the learning objectives in this new area of the curriculum.

JA programs are offered at no-cost to teachers or schools. Our programs are funded and made available through the generous support of our corporate partnerships and/or grants/foundations.

Each class that is interested in participating in the program should complete the online registration. This will help us in planning, so we are aware of how many presenters/programs you are looking for. If all the classes in your grade would like to participate, multiple classes can be added in one registration. We will reach out to you when we have an available program for all the classes.

The teacher-led program is very flexible. Since JA is not providing any presenters to facilitate the program, teachers can choose when the students participate. Teachers can choose to run the program in one day or can spread the activities out across several dates. Once your program has been set up by JA, the timeline is up to you.

Once your class has been set up for the teacher-led program, you will be able to run the program any time during the school year that is convenient for you. You can run the entire program in one day, or you can spread the lessons across several days. The teacher-led program provides flexibility, so you can run the program at a time that is convenient for you and your class.

By participating in the JA program, you will be given access to the JA Campus. This is where you will find all the digital resources needed to run the program.

You will be provided with notes on how to run the program, digital program elements, and access to any videos that accompany the program. You will also be provided with student workbooks which your students will use for some of the activities. If your students are learning in person, JA will ship the workbooks to your school (a digital version will be made available for students learning online).

To run the teacher-led program, you will access all the resources through the JA Campus. You’ll be able to access this through your browser (Google Chrome works best). If you are teaching in-person, you can show the resources on a screen via projector. If you have students learning online, you should be able to share your screen when connecting with students via video conference.

If you have any challenges accessing or using the resources, please reach out to your JA contact. We are here to support you!

Codes are active until the end of the school year. When you register your class, you can indicate what time of year would be most convenient for you to participate in the program and we will do our best to provide you with your resources (funding dependent).

No. We kindly ask that the program details and access to our resources are not shared with other teachers. If you do have a colleague who would like to participate in the program, please connect with your JA contact. We would be happy to assist interested teachers in registering for programs.

We are required to track all the classes and students participating in our programs. Therefore, we do need to make sure each class is registered. Your JA contact will be able to help you with this process and provide you with you and your students with your own materials and answer any questions.

If you have any challenges accessing the JA Campus or the online resources, please reach out to your JA contact. We will be able to troubleshoot any challenges you are having. We’re here to support your program experience! Contact [email protected]

For the virtual volunteer presentation, we recommend that teachers give access to our presenters to join a platform they’re already using with their class (E.G. Google Meet, Zoom, MS Teams, Brightspace, etc.). Please set up a test session with your presenter and share the meeting link ahead of time to make sure they’re able to join, share their screen, and access audio/video.

If for any reason you’re unable to share your platform with your presenter, you are welcome to ask your presenter if they have a platform they can share for the presentation. Whichever is easiest for your class.

If you are having challenges connecting to a platform, please reach out to your JA contact. We will help troubleshoot any challenges you’re having.

We work with a variety of presenters who are from the local business community. All our presenters come from our corporate or community partnerships. Each presenter is screened and comes with a unique level of experience and expertise. We encourage our presenters to share information about their career development and to share relevant stories from their professional life as it relates to the program content. Students will be able to interact with our presenters and ask them questions throughout the presentation.

We hope you and your students enjoy having our presenter join your class for the program.

Yes. We ask our presenters to reach out to their teacher the week before their presentation to introduce themselves and to test that they can get onto your platform. If you have not received an email from your presenter in advance, please reach out to your JA contact to let us know. We will follow up with your presenter to ensure that they do reach out in advance.

Yes. We encourage you to share any information that would be helpful to the presenter. Any insights and tips for engaging your class would be helpful. Our presenters enjoy running an engaging session with students. We know different students learn in different ways. If your students enjoy asking questions and participating that is great, however, if you have a quieter class that enjoys hearing more stories that works as well.

Yes. It is very important that you test the online platform with your presenter ahead of time (ideally a week before the presentation). This ensures that the presenter can join your online platform and allows them to test screen sharing/audio/video.

When your presenter reaches out to introduce themself, we recommend setting up a time to test the online platform. This can be done at any time that is convenient for both of you. Normally the test call takes approximately 10 minutes.

It is important that this step happens. Some of our presenters have had challenges joining platforms hosted through the school board or had security challenges accessing platforms. If this does happen, please reach out to your JA contact. We will help troubleshoot and offer some solutions. This is also why we recommend setting up the test call a week in advance. This allows for time to find solutions if there are any challenges with the online platform.

The online program session will last 90 minutes. Most of our programs are run as one session (90 minutes). Occasionally, we will offer the program as two sessions of 45 minutes.

The primary role of the teacher is to manage the class and ensure that the presenter is set up to broadcast the session for the students.

Teachers are required to remain on the session at all times and to monitor the students. Should there be any challenges with student behaviour, this should be handled by the teacher.

The presenter will run all the activities and bring any online resources. The teacher will not be asked to run any elements of the program during the presentation. However, if teachers want to join in on the conversation, they are welcome to participate.

Our presenters also love engaging with the students. Any information you can share with the presenter ahead of time on how to best engage your class would be most appreciated.

 

If your presenter has not arrived for your online presentation, please reach out to your JA contact ASAP. We will reach out right away to see why your presenter has not arrived and will assist with the situation.

If your school or school board has a policy around student privacy, please share that info with your JA contact. Our presenters will follow any policies/procedures that are required.

Our presenters understand that there are many privacy regulations when working with a youth audience. Our presenters are also instructed not to take photos during the presentation.

We would love to hear feedback about your JA program experience. After your presentation, please feel free to reach out to your JA contact to let them know about your program experience. This feedback is most valuable to us! You will also receive an online survey that you can complete.

If your class would like to share a thank you of some sort with the presenter, they often enjoy hearing how the students enjoyed the program. We’ve had some teachers share student testimonials, ask the students to share something they learned, or put together a digital thank you card for the presenter. These types of gestures are typically well appreciated by our presenters. You can feel free to include your JA contact when sending this, as we love seeing this as well.

Sending a thank you after the program is not required. These are just a few ideas in case your class would like to do so.

We do ask that our presenters stick to the 90-minute time slot for your presentation. We understand that you likely have other plans for your class after the presentation. We know that different presenters and classes will get through the program at different paces.

If your class is having good discussions with the presenter, they may not get through all the content. After the program, your JA contact will have some additional resources that they can share with you should you want to continue the learning with your class.

No. Unfortunately, we are unable to share the presentation deck. However, if you would like to continue the learning with your students, we can share some additional resources with you. Please reach out to your JA contact and we can set this up for you.

If you did not request a specific partner, you will be notified who your partner is and their contact information in a final confirmation email that is sent prior to your classroom delivery date. You may contact your partner and discuss how to coordinate the lessons for the day.

Unless schools are pre-booked for your organization you will receive these details at training or shortly thereafter. It can take 3-6 weeks to confirm all schools for volunteers. Please hold the delivery date we will confirm a school for you.

Once classrooms are booked you will receive a confirmation email from programs which will include the teacher’s name and contact information. If you would like to call or email to ask questions, please feel free to. However, please understand that teachers have different schedules and availability than most people who work in an office, and they might not have a chance to respond.

The delivery date was confirmed and the teacher has received a confirmation email from JA Central Ontario which includes the details for the program delivery. Please feel free to email your JA contact if you are not hearing from your teacher. They are expecting you so please plan to go as scheduled.

You are not required to take treats or prizes into the classroom. However, if you decide you would like to, please contact the teacher to confirm if it is possible to do so and if there are any dietary concerns or allergies. All schools are nut free so please also ensure anything brought into the school is labelled as “nut free”. Please also connect with other teams in the same school so that there is consistency with each classroom.

Once you are registered, we will match you to a team and book you to a classroom. Our policy with the school is to deliver programs to all of the classes in the respective grade on the same day. Unfortunately, if we cancel one class, we have to cancel all of them. We ask you to prioritize your commitment to deliver the program and request that you find a replacement if you are no longer able to participate. Please notify the Corporate Coordinator if a replacement is required.

JA Central Ontario offers Community Volunteer Days throughout the year. If you are interested in participating again as a Community Volunteer, please contact [email protected] for more information.

If the program content hasn't changed, returning volunteers are NOT required to attend training. However, you're welcome to join as refresher. A follow-up email with the training recording and instructions to access program materials will be sent to all volunteers prior to your volunteer day.

No. All the lesson plans and activities for use with the class are created for the volunteer and detailed in an easy-to-follow guide. We’ll also provide you with all of the materials necessary to teach the program.

We recommend that you spend some time familiarizing yourself with the program content and the online resources that you’ll be using for the program. An overview of this will be provided in the 60-minute online training. We find that most volunteers will spend 2-3 hours reviewing the material and preparing for their session (in addition to the training). Should you have any questions about the program or content, please reach out to your JA contact. We are here to make sure you feel well prepared for your session.

Don’t worry! We know that not every presenter will get through the content at the same speed. If you don’t get to all the activities because you are having a good conversation about the content or are answering questions, that is also time well spent with the class.

We don’t typically share with the teacher a list of all the activities, so they won’t be aware if any activities are left out. Please feel free to end the session when your time is up. We do ask that you don’t share any of the remaining activities with the teacher. If they’re looking for more info or content, please reach out to your JA contact. We’d be happy to connect with the teacher.

No, the teacher will always remain in the classroom to assist with any issues that may arise. The volunteer presents each activity to the students; the teacher is present to provide classroom management, offer insight into the class and to help out if the volunteer needs assistance.

Yes, if an opportunity is available. We make every effort to place you where you feel most comfortable. Sometimes there are more requests than openings. In that scenario, we’d ask that you volunteer in another school/classroom where there is a need until we can place you at the school that you prefer.

Volunteering with JA not only helps to inspire and prepare local students, it can also strengthen your communication, self-confidence, coaching, leadership, presentation, facilitation and time management skills. Companies that encourage employees to volunteer with JA enhance their image by demonstrating their commitment to educating today’s youth and supporting the local community.

We are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for young people and therefore a vulnerable sector screening is a requirement for all volunteers of JA Central Ontario as well as all school boards with whom we work. After registering, JA will provide you with exact instructions to ease this process.

Task	Approximate Time
Training Session	1 hour
Review Program Materials	1-2 hours
Live Teaching Session	5 - 6 hours (will vary)
Registration & Screening	0.5 – 1 hour
Email Communications	0.5 hour
Total	10 hours approx.