Wallingford High Schoolers Connect With Chinese Students

Twenty high school students from Shanghai, China, and 20 high school students from Wallingford are taking part in Junior Achievement’s (JA) first-ever Global Exchange Program, sponsored by United Technologies Corporation (UTC).

The program is providing students with engaging, academically challenging, and experiential learning sessions that focus on American and Chinese business, innovation, entrepreneurism, ethics and leadership.

The multi-year program kicked-off Monday at Yale University in New Haven and features a week of lectures, seminars, and workshops featuring Yale faculty and business leaders, as well as guest speakers from UTC.

In addition to participating in lectures and workshops, the students will visit the New York Stock Exchange and ESPN Headquarters in Bristol.

Throughout the week, the students will begin to develop ideas for a joint venture that they will plan and operate throughout the 2013-2014 school year.

“We are delighted to host this innovative and dynamic student exchange program,” said Lou Golden, president of JA of Southwest New England. “It is critical for students to learn first-hand about the global economy, and we are fortunate to have such great partners as JA China and UTC. By working together, the students from both countries will advance their understanding of the cultures and dynamics which fuel global marketplaces, and will be better prepared for the jobs opportunities ahead.”

The JA Global Exchange program is being organized by Junior Achievement China, based in Beijing, China, and Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, based in Hartford.

“Cross-cultural understanding will play a key role in each student’s future success in the global economy,” said Yang Gao, Executive Director of JA China. “We are thrilled to join with JA of Southwest New England and UTC to offer this unique opportunity for American and Chinese students to gain mutual understanding while learning valuable lessons in business, entrepreneurship, and ethics.”  

“When looking for a corporate partner, JA of Southwest New England and JA China identified UTC as a perfect fit,” said Golden. “As a leading multinational corporation, UTC recognized the importance of this program and its relevance to preparing students for real-world work.” United Technologies has more than 200,000 employees in 71 countries including 20,000 employees in 465 locations across China. 

“UTC is excited to expand our long-standing support of Junior Achievement internationally,” said Jill Albertelli, vice president of procurement, Pratt & Whitney, and a member of the JA of Southwest New England Board of Directors. “UTC and our employees have been supporting Junior Achievement for decades. This program was a natural one for UTC to support because of our strong partnership with JA as well as our large employee base here in Connecticut and China. We hope this experience will inspire these students to consider a career in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics field and perhaps one day work for UTC.”

Since 1998, UTC and its business units have donated more than $3 million to JA. In 2008, UTC helped redevelop the fifth grade curriculum for “JA in a Day” to include math and science concepts as a way to introduce children to opportunities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.