Junior Achievement pitches 3DE high‑school program to state committee, seeks $950,000 in start-up support

Megan Sturgess, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City, told the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development that the nonprofit’s new high‑school initiative, branded 3‑D E, prepares students for the workforce and is seeking a state budget allocation of $950,000 over two years.

Sturgess said 3DE launched in August 2022 at Olathe East High School and has since expanded to two Kansas City, Kansas high schools—J.C. Harmon and F.L. Schlagle—making Kansas one of 16 states piloting the program. "Junior Achievement has over a 100 years of creating solutions that bridge academics and the real world," she said.

3DE combines multiweek, business‑sponsored case challenges with an 11th‑grade entrepreneurship sequence and a 12th‑grade consulting capstone. Students complete a portfolio of real business projects and a competency transcript focused on six skills Junior Achievement calls core to economic mobility: self‑direction, engaging communication, effective collaboration, cultural agility, critical and analytical thinking, and creativity and innovation. Sturgess said the program starts in ninth grade and culminates in a senior consultancy in which students serve as consultants to local businesses.

Sturgess presented early outcome data and participation metrics. She said the program showed a 41% increase in ninth‑grade students reporting that school felt relevant in their first year of 3DE, a 5%–7% average increase in math and English language arts proficiency, a national 29% higher rate of college enrollment and a 79% two‑year postsecondary persistence rate. Locally, she said the program retains roughly 85% of business partners year over year. "We do have early proof points and data that show the effectiveness and impact of this program," Sturgess said.

Sturgess described business engagement as both financial support and volunteer mentorship; she said partners provide project briefs, judge student pitches and may offer scholarships, internships or pre‑employment offers. She also described Junior Achievement’s prior local work including an $8 million capital campaign that produced a 22,000‑square‑foot youth learning lab in Kansas City, Kansas, home to the JA BizTown program for elementary grades.

Committee members asked how schools and students are recruited and how the program might expand statewide. Sturgess said some districts offer 3DE to a full grade level and that enrollment approaches vary by district: "we are actually able to do a whole grade level" or to work with principals and counselors on opt‑in models. She said program growth depends on available resources and that districts could fund the model themselves if they chose.

Several legislators who had observed 3DE in action praised the program and invited committee members to visit. Representative Laura Williams, who said she recently visited Olathe East, asked about a marketing expo and regional showcases; Sturgess described seed‑funding competitions and market days for student entrepreneurial projects.

No formal committee action or vote was recorded on the funding request. After questions, the committee moved on to a separate bill hearing.

Junior Achievement provided the committee with program materials and a video of student presentations from a concurrent hearing; Sturgess said those materials are available to legislators.