One Million Students. Countless Possibilities Ahead.

Image caption: A Junior Achievement volunteer brings real-world learning into the classroom, helping students build skills and confidence while connecting what they learn in school to life beyond the classroom.

The 2025–26 school year was one for the history books at Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa.

During our 60th anniversary school year, we reached a milestone six decades in the making: more than one million students served.

Since 1965, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa has worked alongside educators, volunteers, businesses, and community partners to help young people build the skills, confidence, and experiences they need to succeed in work and life. At the close of the 2025–26 school year, that impact reached 1,004,615 students.

And while one million is a milestone worth celebrating, it also represents something bigger: the foundation for what comes next.

A Year of Record Impact

The 2025–26 school year demonstrated tremendous growth in both the number of students we reached and the depth of the experiences we provided.

Throughout the year, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa reached:

• 53,307 students — a 47% increase over FY25
• 445,757 instructional hours — a 72% increase over FY25
• 1,758 volunteers — a 17% increase over FY25
• 45 school districts — an 18% increase over FY25
• 22,188 volunteer hours — an 18% increase over FY25

Behind every number is a student gaining a new skill, discovering a career possibility, learning how to make financial decisions, or beginning to see a clearer path toward their future.

Image caption: Students explore career pathways and connect directly with local professionals at JA Career Inspire, discovering new possibilities and gaining a better understanding of the opportunities available in their community.

Expanding Experiential Learning

Experiential learning continued to be at the heart of our work throughout the year.

Our experiential learning opportunities gave students the chance to move beyond traditional classroom instruction and put their learning into action. Through JA BizTown® Mobile, JA Finance Park® Mobile, JA Career Inspire, JA Dream Accelerator™, JA Stock Market Challenge®, and other hands-on experiences, students practiced communication, collaboration, critical thinking, financial decision-making, and career exploration in authentic environments.

The 2025–26 school year also marked an exciting new chapter with the opening of the JA Dream Accelerator™ at the Iowa City Community School District Center for Innovation. This high-tech learning experience connects students with real-world careers and helps them explore the skills, interests, and possibilities that can shape their futures.

Across Eastern Iowa, successful experiential learning opportunities and events brought together thousands of students, educators, volunteers, and business professionals. From students experiencing the responsibilities of running a community at JA BizTown and making real-world financial decisions at JA Finance Park® Mobile, to exploring local careers at JA Career Inspire and experiencing the excitement of investing through JA Stock Market Challenge®, students had opportunities to connect what they learn in school with what comes next.

3DE Continues to Grow

The year also brought significant growth for 3DE™ by Junior Achievement, our model that brings real-world business challenges directly into the classroom.

After launching with ninth-grade students at Prairie and Alburnett, 3DE™ expanded during the 2025–26 school year to serve both ninth- and tenth-grade students at Prairie and Alburnett.

We also expanded 3DE™ into Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, bringing the model to the school's ninth-grade students.

Through 3DE™, students work on authentic challenges presented by local and national businesses and organizations. Along the way, they develop skills such as problem-solving, communication, collaboration, adaptability, and critical thinking while seeing how their classroom learning connects to careers and the world around them.

The expansion represents an important part of JAEI's commitment to creating deeper, sustained learning experiences that prepare students not simply for their first job, but for a rapidly changing workforce.

Image caption: Students celebrate their success at a 3DE culminating event after working together to solve an authentic business challenge—building communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills along the way.

Powered by Volunteers and Community Partners

None of this impact happens without people willing to invest their time, expertise, and resources in young people.

During the 2025–26 school year, 1,758 volunteers contributed 22,188 hours to Junior Achievement experiences.
These volunteers bring the real world into the learning experience. They share their knowledge, talk about their careers, help students solve problems, answer questions, and show young people possibilities they may never have considered before.

Our business and community partners make those connections possible. Together with schools and educators, they help create a bridge between education and the workforce and give students access to experiences, knowledge, and social capital that can contribute to greater economic mobility.

One Million Reached. The Next Million Ahead.

Reaching one million students is an extraordinary milestone, but our work isn't finished.

The careers students will enter are changing. Technology and AI are transforming the workplace. Employers need adaptable talent with durable skills. And young people need opportunities to understand not only what careers exist, but how they can build a pathway to reach them.

That's why Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa is focused on Education for What's Next™.

As Eastern Iowa's trusted education partner, we will continue bringing schools, businesses, volunteers, and communities together to equip young people with the skills, confidence, connections, and experiences they need to achieve economic mobility and contribute to our future workforce.

For 60 years, our community helped us reach our first million students.

Now, we're preparing the next million for what's next.