(Featured image: At left, Steven Flynt, Columbia County School superintendent, asks Derrick Burton III, a Greenbrier Middle School sixth grader, about his experience at the JA Discovery Center of the CSRA. Charmain Z. Brackett/Augusta Good News)
As he watched the children get off their school buses and enter the JA Discovery Center of the CSRA for the first time, Richmond County Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw saw their excitement.
“When they saw all the storefronts, they were blown away,” he told those gathered for the center’s grand opening on Jan. 11. “I wanted to pick up the phone and call the mayor, the county commission and everyone who has a storefront to say thank you.”
Located on River Watch Parkway in Columbia County in a one-time drill-bit manufacturing company that Columbia County School Board Chairman David Dekle said reeked of motor oil when the Columbia County School District first considered purchasing it for its transportation department, the center is a 30,000 square foot learning space which will offer between 13,000 and 15,000 middle school students practical life lessons in business and finance.
Area businesses, philanthropic organizations and institutions of higher education are all part of the center. Volunteers will be vital to the program’s success.
“Junior Achievement’s purpose is to give young people a window on their futures through authentic, real-world experiences that fuel their fascination and make their worlds collide to become bigger than they were before they were with us and to make clear – because for some it’s not – that there is going to be a place for them in the future and the opportunities are perhaps more than what they imagined before,” said John Hancock, JA of Georgia CEO.
Partners with storefronts include Augusta University, Augusta Technical College, SouthState Bank, Chick-Fil-A, Delta and Publix.
It took less than two years for the project to come from approval to grand opening.
Columbia County superintendent Steven Flynt reached out to Bradshaw about the partnership, and on March 8, 2022, the neighboring school boards simultaneously voted in favor of it.
“I can’t say enough about the boards of education that came together and made it happen,” Flynt said.
Charlie Walker Jr., Richmond County School Board president, said he was sold on the concept after touring Savannah’s discovery center. Augusta’s center makes the sixth one in the state.
As part of the grand opening and ribbon cutting, both superintendents asked students from their respective counties about their experiences.
After being a CEO for the day, Derrick Burton III, a Greenbrier Middle School sixth grader, has decided that’s what he wants to be when he grows up.
His favorite part of the day was “going shopping and looking at all the cool toys,” he said.
For Hailey Meyer, a student at Belair K-8, she learned about signing up to vote and the election process.
The JA BizTown program has its own mayor, and Hailey got to vote for that.
To learn more about JA or to volunteer, visit the JA website here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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