Junior Achievement announced recently that Wayne and Marti Huizenga will donate $2 million toward the construction of the Junior Achievement Huizenga Center for Free Enterprise. The announcement was made at a groundbreaking event on the future site of the facility at the northeast quadrant of Broward Community College North Campus in Coconut Creek.

The Huizenga Center for Free Enterprise will provide experiential learning for two new programs, JA Finance Park and JA Enterprise Village, both mandated by the School Board of Broward County. Construction is slated to begin in January of 2006 and to be operational in spring of 2007.

“Marti and I are proud to help make Enterprise Village and Finance Park a reality here in our community,” said Wayne Huizenga. “These programs have been planned for a long time and they have been needed even longer. It is great that Junior Achievement plans to serve every 5th and 8th grader in Broward – it is a great example of Free Enterprise in action.”

The Huizenga Center for Free Enterprise is an example of public/private partnerships at their best. Junior Achievement worked with Broward County Schools to make these new programs a reality in the classroom. Broward Community College stepped up to provide a lead gift - the lease of the $2.4 million property - to Junior Achievement for $1 a year for 30 years, with an option to renew for an additional 30 years. And private entities and individuals, notably Wayne and Marti Huizenga, will help fund the program and construction of the facility.

Junior Achievement, a non profit organization committed to teaching children about free enterprise, launched a $9.5 million capital campaign to build the 65,000 square-foot center last year to house JA Finance Park and JA Enterprise Village.

“The Huizenga Center experiential programs will make a positive, life changing impact on the students of Broward and south Palm Beach County,” said Melissa Aiello, president of Junior Achievement. “This community will be very proud of the results...students with ambition who understand the relevance of success in school. For those who have seen these programs in action in other areas and have been patiently waiting - it is happening!”

Through 40 hours of in-class instruction, JA Finance Park will teach eighth graders personal financial management and career opportunities while JA Enterprise Village program will introduce fifth graders to the free enterprise system.

Both programs will culminate in a field trip to the Institute for Free Enterprise at BCC North Campus. Eighth graders will face the challenge of managing their money and living within their means based on a set of parameters ranging from salary levels to family size. Fifth graders will have to successfully run a “mini-city,” including participating in a town meeting. For both age levels, the hands-on learning at the institute brings to life all the concepts learned in the classroom.

The program will serve approximately 24,000 fifth graders and 22,000 eighth graders in public, private, charter and home schools throughout Broward County and in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. The facility will serve approximately 300 to 480 students each day.

Broward Community College is the first, most diverse and largest institution of higher education in Broward County, providing residents with two-year university-transfer and two-year career degrees at six locations throughout the county. Among the 28 publicly supported community colleges in Florida, BCC has the second-highest college-level enrollment. The mission of the college is to provide high-quality educational programs and services that are affordable and accessible to a diverse community of learners. For more information, call (954) 201-7540.

Visit: www.jasouthflorida.org