Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain (JA) is proud to name Rachel Caliga as the 2024 JA Educator of the Year. Rachel has been teaching for 18 years in Jeffco Public Schools and is entering her 10th year in the Business and Marketing Department at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton, the same school from which she graduated.
Rachel did not plan on being a teacher at first. After realizing the corporate world wasn’t for her, she wanted to coach basketball and figured teaching would be the best path forward. Rachel decided to teach Business and Marketing because of the impact those classes had on her when she was a student and the ability to teach real-world lessons.
“My goal is to spark an interest in business within my students of what they can pursue in the future,” said Rachel. “It’s important to give them a sense of direction and fire when they go out in the real world.”
Rachel brought JA into the classroom on her first day at Dakota Ridge and hasn’t looked back, implementing more than 80 JA programs since then. In 2017, she began bringing her students to JA Finance Park, presented by Transamerica, one of JA’s capstone programs that teaches middle and high schoolers different aspects of individual and family budgeting. There, she has seen a direct effect on her classes over the years.
“A lot of students get the realization from JA Finance Park that, ‘Oh, this is actually real.’ They begin to reevaluate aspects of their life. The interactions with volunteers in different industries have the biggest impact on them. They will always come back and talk about who they met and what they want to do when they get out of high school.”
When talking with other teachers, Rachel encourages them to bring JA into the classroom because of the curriculum that is provided, the interactivity, and the interest and intrigue that the programs generate among the students.
“Everyone I speak with about JA and what I teach, they say, ‘I wish I had that when I was in school,’” said Rachel. “You can do all of the simulations you want in the classroom, but when it’s in a different environment, it hits home more.”
One part that Rachel enjoys most is hearing success stories from her former students, taking what they learned from JA and using it to build their lives.
“It’s great when students come back and I get to hear what they are doing in the world,” said Rachel. “Rather than them dreading work, they are thriving. It’s fun to see them excited.”
