In it's first year (2007) Junior Achievements (JA) new major music event in Duluth, MN featured 14 "garage bands" on Sunday, May 20, 2007. Doors opened at 1:00, battle began at 2:00. These bands represented 14 high schools from across Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. High School Rocks is a head-to-head competition where the top band received a professional recording session and local air play for one of their songs. The top three bands played their own show at Grandma's Sports Garden three weeks later. The proceeds from High School Rocks supports Junior Achievement programs throughout the region. For more information on JA go to http://duluth.ja.org

The 2007 show included…

"Blindfold Tuesday" - Cloquet High School
"No Thanks To You" - Proctor High School
"Solemn Hope" - International Falls High School
"Delusional Murder" - Northwestern High School
"Friends of the Enemy" - Duluth Central High School
"3before" - Hinckley-Finlayson High School
"Chuc" - Superior High School
"Colmekill" - Eveleth-Gilbert High School
"Xavier Jensen Project" - Duluth Denfeld High School
"The Bricks" - Duluth Marshall School (2nd Place)
"The Misses" - Webster High School (3rd Place)
"Walking with Nomads" - Duluth East High
"School Carousel Conspiracy" - Hermantown High School
"Emulate" - Ashland High School (1st Place)

"We have developed a high-level competition with hundreds of thousands of dollars in professional staging, lights and sounds on the main floor of DECC Arena." said Tim Wigchers, Senior District Manager for JA. Wigchers said, "the interest from bands across the region has been intense. An invitation to enter the competition was sent to more than sixty high schools across the region.

For the more information from 2007 go to www.myspace.com/battleofthebands013

Junior Achievement (JA) Mission
To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

JA Programs for students from kindergarten through 12th grade

• Key content areas: business, citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics, financial literacy, and careers.
• JA includes three JA Capstone programs [JA BizTown, JA Finance Park, JA Titan] where we take the theory of classroom based economic curriculum and apply it in a simulated "real world" environment

Classroom Implementation

• Traditional delivery, 5-8 separate visits to the classroom for 30-50 minute sessions.
• JA-in-a-day, all sessions being delivered in a ˝ day, back to back, with breaks for lunch, etc.

Volunteer Support & Commitment
Easy to follow program guides lead volunteers through the hands-on activities and experiential learning of JA programs. New volunteers participate in a convenient, one-hour training session with JA staff. Volunteers are expected to commit to teaching an entire program and to prepare for their sessions using the program guide. Volunteers are encouraged to share their career and work experience with students.

Proven Impact
JA is one of a few global non-profits to use independent, third-party evaluators to gauge the impact of its programs. Findings prove that JA has a positive impact. For example:

• JA middle school students were significantly more likely to aspire toward college when they reached high school and they were more likely to hold higher career aspirations.
• Most JA High School students worked at least part-time during the school year, whereas only about one-quarter of students in general worked during the academic year.
• JA student were more likely to enter college immediately after high school.
• The more JA program participated in (elementary and secondary), the more likely they were to participate in entrepreneurial activities after leaving high school.

Reach in the Northland

• JA touches the lives of more than 4,000 children in 175 classrooms each school year
• JA touches thousands more as a collaborator in Job Shadow and Career Expo experiences