15,000 Youth Speak Out About Oakland's Reputation.

Business Editors/News and City Desks

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2000

150 Volunteers, 3,000 Students to Participate in 'Invest in Our

Youth Day' Sponsored by VISA and the National Urban Bankers

Association

Challenging the perception of Oakland as "a pocket of urban poverty" with "rundown neighborhoods," 15,000 youth spoke out to reject the notion that Oakland is anything but an extraordinary community.

The students captured Oakland's value as a great place to live, work and play as part of a massive poster contest sponsored by Junior Achievement.

Jenee Murray, a 13-year old, thinks his town is "a wonderful place to raise your children and be raised. The doors are open for Oakland." Ten year-old Brittney Thomason, meanwhile, is excited about her hometown because, "Teachers are dedicated to help us live a successful life." Thomason notes that in Oakland there are "Big hearts, many dreams," painting a stark contrast to recent national media coverage of Oakland as a dreary pocket of urban decay.

"The poster competition is an important aspect of the 'Invest in Our Youth Day' celebration," says Shawn O'Hara, President of Junior Achievement of the Bay Area. "We were excited to invite Oakland-area students to express their community pride. Receiving fifteen thousand responses truly shows how much students in Oakland really do care about their city."

As part of the "Invest in Our Youth Day" celebration, volunteers from VISA and the Bay Area chapter of the National Urban Bankers Association will spend an entire day at six schools teaching more than 3,000 elementary school students about the world of work. The event, scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on March 10, 2000, will allow business volunteers to help students gain the business and career skills they need to succeed in the workforce of the 21st century. Lessons range from earning and saving money, starting a business within city planning and zoning laws, and the importance of community involvement.

At 2 p.m., students and their volunteers will join city officials, major corporate funders, educators, and parents at Sobrante Park Elementary School in East Oakland to celebrate the day's impact and honor the poster contest winners and major contributors.

"Invest in Our Youth Day" is part of the Oakland Expansion Project. Junior Achievement and the Oakland Unified School District will place volunteer mentors into all classrooms, district-wide, in grades K-8 to serve over 40,000 students this year. This type of school-to-career immersion is the first initiative of its kind in the country.

Junior Achievement is the world's largest and fastest growing organization dedicated to educating young people about business and economics. Through age-appropriate curricula, JA programs begin at the elementary school level, teaching children how they can impact the world around them as individuals, workers and consumers. Junior Achievement programs continue through the middle and high school grades, preparing students for additional key economic and workforce issues they will face in the future. This year, Junior Achievement will reach 107,000 youth in six Bay Area counties. Nationally, JA reaches nearly 3.5 million students through 160 offices nationwide and one million more students in over 100 countries worldwide.