Junior Achievement seeks Hawaii Island volunteers as financial literacy demand grows

Junior Achievement of Hawaii is trying to fill volunteer slots on Hawaii Island before the school year ends, with urgent openings at Waiākea Elementary, Keaau Elementary, Kaumana Elementary and Kapiolani Elementary. The immediate need is in elementary classrooms, where students can miss out on lessons in budgeting, saving, credit and investing if volunteer-led sessions go unfilled.

The program is built to be manageable for people who are not teachers. Volunteers get one hour of training, all materials and a five-session curriculum made up of 45-minute classes. That format matters in a county where many families are balancing high living costs and limited room for financial mistakes, and where schools are being asked to take on a bigger role in preparing students for adult life.

Junior Achievement of Hawaii said it reached 8,398 students locally in 2024-2025, working with 259 volunteers in 374 classes at 59 schools. The organization also reported 39,695 contact hours across Hawaii. Last year, its volunteers reached more than 8,300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade classes and after-school programs on Oahu, Hawaii Island and Maui. On the Big Island, the organization’s Hawaii Island programs deliver hands-on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career-readiness lessons to students from elementary through high school.

The timing is significant because financial literacy is no longer just an enrichment topic. The Hawaii State Department of Education has said that beginning with incoming freshmen in the Class of 2030, all students in Hawaii public schools must complete a financial literacy educational opportunity before graduation. The requirement is tracked through the Personal Transition Plan, a required half-credit course for all students. State standards were approved in August 2025 and were drawn from the 2021 National Standards for Personal Finance Education.

That policy shift, paired with new legislative pushes such as House Bill 936 in the 2025 session, helps explain why schools need community support now. Teachers are being asked to meet a formal graduation expectation, but volunteer help remains essential to deliver the lessons in classrooms across the Big Island. For students at Waiākea, Keaau, Kaumana and Kapiolani elementary schools, those five 45-minute sessions may be the difference between hearing about money management in theory and getting practical instruction they can use at home and later in life.