Junior Achievement of Greater Reading and Lehigh Valley hosts four symposiums annually; two in Berks County, and two in Lehigh Valley. They are divided into young men’s and young women’s symposiums, so as to reach the maximum amount of students possible. Students are invited from all of the school districts’ high schools in their respective county, allowing us to reach a large footprint of young scholars. The programs are a one day workshop of mentoring, motivation, and opportunity for high school sophomores and juniors. Topics covered throughout the day include:

• Appropriate conduct and dress for interviews
• How to better communication skills
• Matching career choice with personal style
• Traditional and non-traditional career options
• Managing and understanding personal finance
• Techniques for goal-setting
• Networking
• Personal confidence and appreciation of one’s unique qualities
• Mentoring
• How to finance post-secondary education/ information on Admissions
• Resume writing

How Can You Get Involved?

Volunteer:

• Join a Committee  – Each symposium has its own committee to help plan, organize, and run the event.  Meetings are once per month for approximately one hour.
• Become a Lunch Mentor – A key part of the day is the networking lunch, where students are paired with mentors. Mentors are local business community members who volunteer an hour of their time to come to the lunch session and meet with the students to discuss their particular career, share experiences, and act as a resource for the students participating.
• Serve as a Panel Speaker – During the career panel session of the day, students break out into 7 panel groups that represent different career fields The panels are led by a facilitator, who will guide the panel speakers through a series of questions which will hopefully open up to conversation among the student participants. The goal here is to engage the students in learning more about particular jobs in an industry they are interested in.

Sponsor:

There are many sponsorship opportunities available for the Symposium Series in Berks and Lehigh Counties.  Please contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Attend:

Registration forms are sent out to all district guidance offices within participating counties in early Fall.  Because registration is limited, we invite each district to bring up to ten students to each event (ten young women, ten young men).  Events typically fall between October and early November.  A save the date will be sent out to all schools as soon as dates are confirmed.

For more information about volunteering or attending, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it