Junior Achievement of South Central PA (JASCPA) will host its 32nd annual Putt for Education fundraising event on Friday, Oct. 6, at the Village Greens, 1444 Village Road, Strasburg. The day will include multiple tee times, and noon and 2:30 p.m. spots are currently available to purchase for a set price. Friday, Oct. 13, has been selected as the rain date. The proceeds of the event will support various programs that JA holds throughout Lancaster County and the surrounding areas.

Each tee time will include space for 24 teams to progress through 24 holes, and multiple holes will offer players a chance to earn prizes. One of the prize holes will challenge golfers to hit a ball into the sunroof of a car for a chance to win prizes such as gift certificates for the Village Greens and local businesses. JASCPA will accept registration for sponsors until the day of the event, and teams may sign up to play until the last week of September. Registration will include a grab-and-go lunch for all golfers and a gift bag of items that have been donated by local businesses.

The funds raised by Putt for Education will benefit multiple programs JA offers to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Each program is held at schools free of charge and falls into one of the organization's three target areas: financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. JASCPA's volunteers facilitate the programs and use their own life experiences to teach practical skills in classrooms throughout the area.

One of JASCPA's financial literacy initiatives is REAL Life, which is a program offered to juniors and seniors in high school. Through REAL Life, students learn about budgeting by participating in various activities such as guessing the cost of items commonly purchased by adults. Students are also given scenarios that include a specific career and salary, and they are tasked with covering expenses like rent and utilities without exceeding their budgets. "It's really valuable for students to learn the cost of things as they prepare for adulthood," said Kim Zech, JASCPA's vice president of communications and events. "Our programs give kids an opportunity to ask questions and get real-world answers."

To promote entrepreneurship and employment readiness in students, JASCPA hosts BizTown. The event involves a daylong interactive learning experience in a simulated town, where fifth- and sixth-grade students can operate a business such as a restaurant or bank. The goal of BizTown is to bridge the gap between what students learn in the classroom and what they will be tasked with in adult life.

During the 2022-23 school year, JASCPA offered programs to over 100,000 students in southcentral Pennsylvania, including over 24,000 kids in Lancaster County.

To register for Putt for Education or to learn more about JASCPA's programs, visit http://www.jascpa.org.