[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1207-E1208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING JOHN S. KOZA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES A. LEACH

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 26, 2001

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce my colleagues to 
John S. Koza of Iowa City, Iowa, Junior Achievement's National Middle 
School Volunteer of the Year.
  Over the past 12 years, John has taught 38 classes in basic business 
methods as a Junior Achievement instructor. His open, honest and caring 
teaching style creates a fun, relaxed environment in which students 
both learn the skills needed to be successful entrepreneurs and are 
imbued through John's example with the importance of giving back to 
your community.
  John's work in the Junior Achievement exemplifies the history of 
program as a quintessential American success story.

[[Page E1208]]

  As the exodus from farm to city accelerated in this country at the 
beginning of the 20th century, so did the need to prepare young people 
for the demands of a changing workplace. Junior Achievement was founded 
in Massachusetts in 1919 as a collection of small, after school 
business clubs to help meet that need, with students learning how to 
create business plans, to set up appropriate accounting procedures, and 
to learn basic manufacturing, advertising and marketing techniques.
  In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge hosted a White House reception to 
kickoff a national fundraising drive for Junior Achievement, and by the 
late 1920s there were nearly 800 JA Clubs with 9,000 participants in 13 
cities throughout New England.
  During World War II, enterprising students in JA business clubs 
applied their ingenuity to aid the war effort. In Chicago, JA students 
won a contract to manufacture 10,000 pants hangers for the Army; in 
Pittsburgh, JA students developed a specially lined box to dispose of 
incendiary devices which was approved by Civil Defense and sold 
locally; elsewhere, they organized drives to obtain badly needed scrap 
metal.
  The 1950s saw Junior Achievement increase five-fold, with President 
Eisenhower declaring the week of January 30 to February 5, 1955, 
``National Junior Achievement Week.'' By then, Junior Achievement was 
operating in 139 cities in most of the 50 states. By 1982, JA's formal 
curricula had expanded to Applied Economics, Project Business and 
Business Basics; by 1988, more than one million students were 
participating in its programs.
  Today, through the efforts of more than 10,000 volunteers like John 
Koza in the classrooms of America, Junior Achievements reaches over 4 
million students in grades K to 12 annually. JA International takes the 
free enterprise message of hope and opportunity to more than 1.5 
million students in 111 countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate John Koza of Iowa City for his 
outstanding service to Junior Achievement and the young people of Iowa. 
He is a wonderful example for us all.

                          ____________________