Gain Creators / Outcomes

• More students are actively involved in student companies as also more shy ones can be activated by their older peers.
• Student companies from countryside with low business activities can find at least some mentor (with CP experience) and it is an extra value for the learning process.
• The most active post CP members get extra training and find new motivation before finishing the school. They form their own community with other junior mentors all over the country and it can be a good start for doing real business together.
• Programme enables the students to be better prepared and support teachers in their day to day activity

Gains / Needs

• Student companies need support from other people than their teachers. They have problems that they do not dare to share with adults but they trust their own peers who have gone through the same process.
• Students that went through the Company Programme want to be involved in the same kind of activities at higher level and want to get more knowledge.
• Young people want to find new friends with the same business interest.

Target Group

Students who finished the Company Programme but are still in school

Implementation Method

• Home page, direct e-mails, Facebook.
• Meetings with teachers to promote the opportunity.

Junior Mentor Programme

JA Estonia has started a programme for students who have gone through JA Company Programme but are still at school. They are trained by JA Estonia and its partners  and they are supposed to form their own community of young leaders.

JA Estonia teaches them leadership skills, communication, involving students with low motivation and low self-esteem, but also different other aspects of business (investing, productivity, optimising of processes, etc.) Students start mentoring their younger peers (5^th class- 11 th class) who start their student companies. They are working in cooperation with teachers and act like role models. They assist JA during trade fairs and each of them give advice to at least 10 student companies who are selling their products there. In spring they write their reports to JA and get certificates.

Activities

• Have a list with contacts with previous student company members who are still at school
• Ask for motivation letters for the programme
• Deliver them trainings in leadership, psychology, communication and different fields in business.
• Ask teachers to involve them into CP as junior mentors who are not responsible for financial activities but more for communication and soft part of CP.
• Use them as consultants during national and regional trade fairs.
• Ask them to write a report and make a presentation.
• Give them certificates.

Resources

• Finances for training sessions, transportation and accommodation.
• Trainers (alumni who are already specialist, business volunteers, etc.)

Pain Relievers / Solutions

• Young people can replace business volunteers in the places where it is hard to get them. Where a student company has a mentor, Junior mentor has still opportunities for doing a god job as he/she is at school every day and can hear the problems better.
• Young people will go on with business experience at the higher level and they are not “lost” for business.
• They can have new contacts all over the country and they can find new people with whom they can do their own business in the future.
• The CP alumni get through the Junior mentor programme more knowledge and leadership experience.

Pains / Challenges

• Not all places have access to business volunteers.
• Active students who have gone through Company Programme will have other activities and can forget about CP during the last year at school.
• Not all teachers have so good contact with students that they hear about the real problems in the student company.
• Some of CP alumni members want to continue with similar activities but the CP is over.