NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

May 8, 2014

Contact:
Lori Dossett Mark Giga
Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest AT&T Media Relations
651-255-0038 (direct); 612-298-0050 (cell) 612-206-0193
ldossett@jaum.org mark.giga@att.com

MINNEAPOLIS TEENS LEARN HOW TO BE WORKFORCE-READY
AT AT&T ASPIRE MENTORING ACADEMY

Roosevelt High School students participate in
Junior Achievement Job Shadow Program to gain 21
st
century skills

Bloomington, MN. In light of reports that Americas youth are inadequately prepared to
participate in todays workforce, there is an even greater need to provide them with the
skills needed to succeed in school and beyond. AT&T is doing its part by sponsoring job
shadowing opportunities that will allow students to acquire and apply the skills needed
to succeed in demanding and ever-changing workplaces.
On Tuesday, May 13, Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest students from
Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis will attend AT&T Aspire Mentoring Academy.
The event will take place at AT&Ts Bloomington campus (7900 Xerxes Ave).
Aspire Mentoring Academy is the key community engagement program of AT&Ts $350
million investment in its Aspire program, which is focused on high school success
leading to college and career readiness. Through the program, the companys
employees are engaging in their communities with a goal to provide 1 million hours of
mentoring to students at-risk of dropping out of high school.
Building on the success of earlier AT&T/Junior Achievement Job Shadow initiatives,
which provided students with more than 100,000 job shadow opportunities, AT&T
employees will share life experiences and career advice through project-based activities
during the workday.
Providing young people with real-world learning experiences can be key to improving
U.S. high school graduation rates. More than 1 million students each year (1 in every 4)
do not graduate on time with their class.
1

According to the landmark study commissioned by The Gates Foundation, The Silent
Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, more than 4 in every 5 (81 percent) of
high school dropouts interviewed indicated that providing them with real-world learning
experiences would have helped them stay in school.
Junior Achievement is working to improve high school graduation rates by helping
students connect the dots from the classroom to the real world and understand the
importance of developing skills needed to be successful in the global economy. We are
honored to collaborate with AT&T to address this critical social and economic issue,
said Gina Blayney, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest.
We are excited to partner with Junior Achievement, a leader in the field of student
mentoring, as we mobilize our employees to provide 1 million hours of mentoring, said
Lane Mansell, AT&Ts Vice President /General Manager of Northern Plains. This is just
the beginning of a program that will help us put the skills, knowledge and passion of our
employees to work in our communities.

About Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest
Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest has been serving students in Minnesota, Western
Wisconsin and North Dakota since 1949. This school year we will reach more than 152,000
students in grades K-12 with financial literacy, college and career readiness and
entrepreneurship education. Our programs are implemented by more than 7,000 volunteers,
mostly business professionals, who share their skills and experience to motivate and inspire
students to succeed. Learn more at www.jaum.org.
About Community Engagement at AT&T
At AT&T, Community Engagement means engaging our employees to build strong, connected,
and thriving communities where we live and do business. Employees are focused on three key
issues: improving educational outcomes, building sustainable communities and promoting the
responsible use of technology. In 2011, employees and retirees donated 6 million hours of time
to community outreach activities and pledged more than $33 million for charities of their choice
through the United Way/Employee Giving campaign. Employees also committed to more than
21,000 sustainable choices through Do One Thing (DOT), which invites employees to make
small, everyday choices that add up to a big positive impact for themselves, the community
and/or the company. To learn more about Aspire Mentoring Academy visit
www.att.com/aspirementoring.
###

1
Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic, Annual
Update 2012, Alliance for Excellent Education, Americas Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, and the
Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University (March 19, 2012)