[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21434]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING JOYCE RICHARDS, RECIPIENT OF JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT 
                 WORLDWIDE'S 2009 CHARLES R. HOOK AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HARRY E. MITCHELL

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 10, 2009

  Mr. MITCHELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of Junior Achievement of Arizona. I am a strong 
supporter of JA's mission and programs. During my twenty eight years as 
a teacher of Government, I used their materials, hosted speakers in my 
classroom and visited their facility.
   Good programs reflect the quality of the people who run them. I 
would like to congratulate the organization's President, Joyce 
Richards, for winning JA Worldwide's 2009 Charles R. Hook Award. This 
award is the top honor for JA Presidents who demonstrate superior 
results in promoting the growth and development of Junior Achievement 
in their area.
   Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to 
teaching students in Kindergarten through 12th grade about the 
importance of economics, entrepreneurism, and financial literacy. The 
organization reaches over 9 million students around the world each 
year, with over 130 local offices in the United States and operations 
in over 110 countries worldwide. One of the things that makes JA so 
unique is its use of adult volunteers to bring business to life for 
students. In the United States alone, young people in more than 188,000 
classrooms benefit annually from these positive role models.
   Ms. Richards is clearly deserving of receiving this year's Hook 
Award. She joined the Junior Achievement of Arizona office in 1997 as 
Vice President of Development, and was named as President in 2001. The 
organization has grown dramatically under her leadership, and JA of 
Arizona now reaches nearly 90,000 students. The organization's programs 
are provided at no cost to schools and are funded entirely through the 
private sector. As part of these efforts, Ms. Richards spearheaded a $4 
million capital campaign to build two JA BizTown programs, and expanded 
JA's impact into the Tucson community by launching a JA operation that 
now reaches 10,000 students.
   Especially in the current economic climate, teaching students the 
importance of economics and financial literacy is of the utmost 
importance, and I congratulate Ms. Richards and Junior Achievement of 
Arizona for their efforts.

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