Needs From: Heart of Illinois Volunteers

Please join us for the 9th Annual CareerSpark expo in person at the Peoria Civic Center on October 1st & 2nd, 2025! CareerSpark is a Career Exploration Fair designed for 8th grade students to explore the most in-demand careers in the Greater Peoria Area. 

Volunteers roles we are looking to fill for both days:

Zone Entrance/Exit Monitor (Stationed at entrance or exit to each zone to ensure students are in and stay in the correct zone for the duration of the zone rotation. Need ability to be assertive with students and stand the entire shift.)

Bus Greeter (Step on bus, welcome students & teachers, briefly explain the exciting CareerSpark event that awaits. Connect your group to their designated tour guide. Need to have a loud voice, an outgoing personality, and be able to lift and carry boxes of student materials to the bus.)

School Tour Guide (One tour guide per school to stay with students & teachers, help monitor student engagement, & ensure students follow the correct zone rotation. Need ability to stand and walk for the entire shift.)

Please join us for the 9th Annual CareerSpark expo in person at the Peoria Civic Center on October 1st & 2nd, 2025! CareerSpark is a Career Exploration Fair designed for 8th grade students to explore the most in-demand careers in the Greater Peoria Area. 

Volunteers roles we are looking to fill for both days:

Zone Entrance/Exit Monitor (Stationed at entrance or exit to each zone to ensure students are in and stay in the correct zone for the duration of the zone rotation. Need ability to be assertive with students and stand the entire shift.)

Bus Greeter (Step on bus, welcome students & teachers, briefly explain the exciting CareerSpark event that awaits. Connect your group to their designated tour guide. Need to have a loud voice, an outgoing personality, and be able to lift and carry boxes of student materials to the bus.)

School Tour Guide (One tour guide per school to stay with students & teachers, help monitor student engagement, & ensure students follow the correct zone rotation. Need ability to stand and walk for the entire shift.)

BECOME A MENTOR FOR K-12 STUDENTS

Junior Achievement of Central Illinois provides volunteers with training that is simple and relatable; programs that are engaging and fun; and a classroom full of eager kids ready to learn from you!

As a Junior Achievement volunteer, you will inspire kids to achieve a more fulfilling career and life by contributing your professional insights and personal experiences to the programs you teach.
 
EASY STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

1) Sign Up
How you volunteer is important! Select the type of volunteering that is most suitable to get more information and complete a form that our program team will use to contact you.

2) Pick Schedule
You will have the opportunity to discuss your preference of how or where you would like to volunteer before signing up.

3) Attend Training
A JA program team member will provide you with a short but effective training session in which you will be able to ask questions. Online, self-guided new volunteer training is also available. We will make sure you are ready to volunteer!

4) Impact Lives
Sharing your professional experiences as a mentor while facilitating JA Learning Experiences helps students believe in themselves so they can achieve their dreams!

 

FLEXIBLE VOLUNTEERING CHOICES
Location
Volunteering for Junior Achievement is flexible, and in many cases, you may be able to serve a class close to your home or workplace!

Time Investment
The JA program team provides resources that make preparation easy, and with so many learning experiences to choose from, you can pick one that best fits your goals and objectives. Most volunteers will visit classrooms five times in one school semester for five class periods (about 45 min. for each class period/lesson). A typical JA volunteer will spend just ten hours preparing and volunteering!

Grade Level
Junior Achievement has learning experiences for grades K-12. Volunteers are able to select the grade and/or subject matter that best meets their volunteering goals and objectives. 

Delivery Model
 We have in-person, virtual, and blended learning experiences!

 

 K-12 LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Elementary
In grades K-5, children are eager to learn and full of energy! If you like working with elementary grade children, you will love volunteering for JA! Games, engaging worksheets, and more are used to make learning fun and impactful for this age group.

Middle School
Volunteering with youth in grades 6-8 is very rewarding! It can be so much fun but also helps youth at a critical stage in their educational journeys. In this age group, youth are curious about the future and the kind of jobs that exist. They have a longer attention span than elementary grade children, and they are capable of creating relevant plans for their futures. 

High School
If you enjoy working with kids that are ready to tackle the world but are looking for the paths to be opened up to them and are fascinated by innovation and entrepreneurship, the high school volunteer experience may be right for you! Volunteering at the high school level will typically be focused on one or more of the three JA pathways: financial literacy, work/career readiness, and entrepreneurship/entrepreneurial thinking.