JA Bowling Recognition!

JA Students Corderryn Warren, Michael Richards and Kiera Hood hosted the Bowling Awards and Recognition Luncheon

The 2012 Winter Edition of the Jim ‘N Nick’s Junior Achievement Bowling Classic ended Friday with an awards and recognition luncheon hosted by three noteworthy Junior Achievement students:  Kiera Hood, from Fairfield High School as well as  Michael Richards and Corderryn Warren, both from Hueytown High School.

Kiera welcomed the crowd of about sixty and thanked them for the opportunities they provided to her by participating in the Bowling Classic.  She also congratulated them on nearing the enormous $280,000 goal set for the event back in June.  Miss Hood then introduced Michael and Corderryn, who announced the following award-winners:

Most Money Raised by an Individual

• Fourth Place - Tracee Campbell, Regions Bank
• Third Place - Eden Roy - Regions Bank
• Second Place - Rolando Benavidez, Golden Flake
  

  Individual and Team winners Pam Smiley, Rolando Benevidez, Eden Roy and Allison Cornin, accepting on behalf of Tracee Campbell, pose with Kiera Hood, left.

• First Place - Pam Smiley - Motion Industries

Most Money Raised by a Team

• Fourth Place - Rolando Benavidez, Golden Flake
• Third Place - Eden Roy, Regions Bank
• Second Place - Jeff Clemons, Golden Flake
• First Place - Pam Smiley, Motion Industries

Most Money Raised by a Company

• Fourth Place - Vulcan Materials, Aarti Karve, Coordinator
• Third Place - Motion Industries, Pam Smiley, Coordinator
• Second Place - Golden Flake, Brenda Sanford
• First Place - Allison Cronin, Regions Bank

Top Company Winners with Kiera Hood (left) l to r: Allison Cronin, Brenda Sanford, Pam Smiley, Aarti Karve

Special Award:  Company “On the Rise”

• EBSCO - Laurie Morris, Coordinator

Many thanks to Jim ‘N Nick’s, the title sponsor of the Bowling Classic, for the delicious lunch and gracious service.  Special thanks to Julie Roach with Alagasco for donating use of the Center for Energy Technology as well as lovely centerpieces for the tables.

The 2012-13 Bowling event will kick off on June 1.  If you or any company you know of would like to participate, please contact Emilie Lasseter, Special Events Manager at (205) 290-9365 x 117.

Click here for a full gallery of Winter Bowling Classic team photos

First 12 have a rockin’ good time!

So our first 12 bowling teams of the season are going to be a tough act to follow!  These guys had so much fun yesterday getting in to all the games, prizes and festivities at Vestavia Lanes!  We had a number of winners of the Wacky Pin Scramble and prizes were provided by our King Pin Sponsor, Golden Flake!  The scavenger hunt was played with a new twist…. so future bowlers get ready for a challenge!!  Sarah, a representative from our Title Sponsor Jim ‘N Nick’s brought everyone a yummy treat, who doesn’t love bowling with cheese biscuits?   To top things off, the 50/50 raffle pot hit nearly $200.  The lucky winner of half the pot deserves a big, HUGE, GINORMOUS shout out: Mr. Keith Harrah of Regions Bank generously donating his winnings back to Junior Achievement for the greater good of our local students.  THANKS KEITH!!

I’ll post pictures as soon as our camera get’s back to the office, so stay tuned!

Thursday Fundraising Tip: take large cash donations to Walmart or a local bank to have them converted to a money order or cashiers check. (think group fundraisers like Jeans for JA)  This will make collections fly by so I can get your team and company totals to you faster!

Regions Bowling is Here!

Let’s get ready to rumble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right, the Winter Bowling Classic begins Today!  12 teams from Regions Bank will get our event kicked off today!  And we’re looking forward to another 27 teams on Friday!  It’s going to be a fun week and even better weekend!  Stay tuned to the blog for helpful hints on money collections and keeping things organized on your bowling day!

Wednesday’s tip:   All team captains should arrive 30 minute prior to your bowling time in order to check-in and get your lane assignments so you are prepared when your bowlers arrive.

We’re in the homestretch with fundraising!  Don’t give up yet!  Those last little donations make a BIG impact on our local students and our future economy!

Quick Reminder

Hey Bowling Friends!

Just taking a second for a reminder that all Registrations are DUE TOMORROW: January 31st!  This includes the $15/bowler fee.  Most of you have gotten this stuff into me already (thank you!!), but if you haven’t…no worries, there is still time!  Coordinators and TC’s can register teams either from this website or by filling out the form in your packets.  Also, as I posted on Friday, we now have an online payment option for you guys.

http://jabowlingclassicregistrationfee-autohome.eventbrite.com/

We’re 3 weeks away and I can’t wait to see ya’ll!

JA Bowling Classic keeps moving forward!

Alright guys, we’ve listened to your needs and found that online registration fee payment options would make your life so much easier.  So, VOILA…thanks to the ingenuity of our Marketing Director, Jennifer Hatchett we can now offer that to you.  We have created an EventBrite website where you can pay your registration fees. You can pay individually, for a whole team or even company!

Unfortunately, this is not a catch all website where you can pay for your team(s) & register them at once.  I still need you to register your team as you normally would (via form or online).   But, it does address the need to pay with a credit card at your leisure.  There is a $1.82 service fee added to each registration.  It is 100% up to you how you choose to pay.

http://jabowlingclassicregistrationfee.eventbrite.com/

I hope you all find this helpful!  Happy Friday!

Bowling Brainstorms!

Hey Friends!  I’m happy to report we had a great Team Captain Luncheon today at Jim ‘N Nick’s!  Not only was the food awesome, but so was the company!  While there was a very small turn out, I think we had great discussion and idea swapping!  It seems the Team Captains enjoyed being able to brainstorm together about ways to boost their overall fundraising goals.  2 companies swapped best practices and ideas for group fundraisers and strategies for motivating individual fundraisers as well!  A few of the ideas were:

1. request donated items from businesses around town and then raffle them off (ipad, ipods, GPS, tickets to events, etc)
2. host a departmental or company bake sale…even better a VALENTINES DAY BAKE SALE!  Employees can buy something yummy for their hunny and it all goes to a great cause!
3. Jeans for JA!  Talk to your coordinator and HR department about setting up a Jeans Day!  It’s easy and allows other members of the company to contribute and support JA without participating.

I hope these inspire you to organized a goal busting idea too!  Remember, if you haven’t already, I need all Team Captains planning to attend next week’s luncheon to RSVP by Friday!

Thanks and happy FUNdraising!

Happy New Year!

Hey JA bowlers!  I hope you all have had a lovely holiday season and got to spend time with good friends and family.  Well, it’s 2012 and time to get in gear!  We have so many events and important dates coming up!  Only 54 days until the fundraising deadline.  So, what needs to happen to get on track?

1. Coordinators: now is time for heavy recruiting of Team Captains!  We have 2 TC luncheons coming up very soon and spaces must be reserved in advance!

• Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - Homewood JNN 12-1pm
• Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - Homewood JNN 12-1pm (filling up very quickly)

2. Team Captains: make sure you are scheduled to attend one of the above luncheons.  You will be fed a delicious meal compliments of our title sponsor, Jim ‘N Nick’s; and you will learn the basic ABC’s of being a Team Captain.  There will also be plently of time to share best practice tips and help you and your fellow captains create good fundraising strategies for the 2012 Winter Bowling Classic!  Also, team registration forms are extremely important.  Please make sure you get this turned in to me as soon as you have recruited your bowlers!  Bowling times are on a first come first serve basis and fill up fast.  Registrations can be faxed to 205.290.9332, emailed to elasseter@jaogb.org, or filled out online by clicking the ‘registration’ tab at the top of the blog.

• Registration Deadline:  Tuesday, January 31, 2012

3. Bowlers: let the fundraising begin!  It’s a new year and time to reach new goals & impact students in your local community by fulfilling your commitment to the Bowling Classic.  This fundraiser raises approximately 1/3 of our annual operating budget and helps us reach more than 30,000 students in the Birmingham area.  So, here are some helpful hints to get you started…

• Online fundraising is by far the easiest way to hit your goal!  It takes 3 simple steps to create your page and link it with your team.  Follow the link to get started   http://www.firstgiving.com/jabirmingham/2012-jim-n-nicks-junior-achievement-winter-bowling
• copy and paste your personal fundraising page link into emails, on facebook status updates, twitter & blogs.  Let your friends and family know that you’re participating in the Bowling Classic and it’s so easy to support you!

ready.set.go.

JA student inspires fundraisers

Well, I promised to upload this video to the blog; but unfortunately it’s too big.  Here is the link where you can watch it via Facebook…I assure you it is worth it!  A little background…

 Kiera Hood is a senior at Fairfield High School.  Her teacher, Ms. Harris is one of our most treasured JA teachers and a big supporter of what we do!  You’ll notice, Kiera gives a special thanks to Ms. Harris as well as her Volunteer, Mrs. Sandi Gornati.  Sandi Gornati is the President of SGI Delivery Solutions.  Four years ago, Sandi was convinced by a verypersuasive staff member to volunteer in the classroom for JA.  Sandi was paired with Mrs. Harris and they have been together as volunteer & teacher ever since.  If Kiera Hood is any indication of the type of students they impact and polished young professionals they create, I’d say they are quite a team!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=2870438962030&set=vb.29819427349&type=2&theater

Let the games begin….!

Bowling Classic Chairman, Harry Dinken of Altec Industries

The 2012 Jim ‘N Nick’s Junior Achievement Winter Bowling Classic has officaially kicked-off and we’re moving with great momentum!  We had a fantastic luncheon on December 2nd.  The luncheon was graciously hosted by Samford University; big thanks to our Samford board member Dr. Howard Finch!  We loved using the Pete Hanna Center for this event.

The luncheon began with a motivating talk from our Bowling Classic Chairman, Mr. Harry Dinken of Altec Industries.  Harry did a great job sharing his thoughts on JA & energizing coordinators to do their best for our 25th Anniversary year!

Pam Smiley, Motion Industries Coordinator, introducing me to her new co-coordinator.

The boys from O'Neal Steel discussing their 2012 fundraising strategies!

Kendra Venable (Cobbs, Allen & Hall) & Ricky Parker (AT&T) sharing a laugh at the luncheon

We had a great turn out of coordinators that have been supporting JA for years & a handful of newbies eager to rally the troops & represent their organizations. 

I gave coordinators a quick run-down of the task ahead of them!

A motivating opening speaker, a delicious lunch, laughs & and quick ‘how to’ talk…what else could you ask for?  Well, how about a fantastically, inspiring message from one of our very own JA students.  Ms. Kiera Hood, a senior at Fairfield Highschool, joined us for Kick-Off to share her Junior Achievement experience.  She discussed the highlights she leared from JA curriculum, how it will impact her future decision making and why the coordinators should continue to do their very best to make a difference for students just like her.   Stay tuned for my next post, I’m going to upload the video of Kiera speaking to share with this lovely bowling community!

Ms. Darrington, Mrs. Hood, Kiera Hood, and Mrs. Harris

Mark your calenders!

Hey JA Bowlers! 

 It’s not even Halloween yet, but I’ve got Winter Bowling on my brain!  Mark your calenders for Friday, December 2nd, 2011!  That’s the day we will kick-off the Winter Bowling Classic and continue our 25th Anniversary Celebration! 

More BIG NEWS:  this year we have a venue change!  Winter Bowling Kick-Off will be at Samford University in the Pete Hanna Center, Hospitality Room.  We are so excited to have Samford host our event and want to give a special thanks to one of our new board members, Dr. Howard Finch Dean of Samford’s Brock School of Business, for making this happen and supporting JA!

The Bowling Committee met last week and boy did they work up some big ideas!  Lot’s of fun new rallies and events in store for this year.  Stay tuned for details and new ways to get your business involved!

-Emilie,  Bowling Queen