Lemont's Junior Achievement to Sell 125th Anniversary Commemorative Calendar

Lemont High School will celebrate its 125th Anniversary in 2015, and its Junior Achievement organization is helping to kick off the year-long celebration. “Days & Decades”—the school’s Junior Achievement company for the 2014-15 school year—will publish a 2015 calendar dedicated to the history of Lemont High School. That commemorative piece now is available for preorder.

Each month in the calendar represents a decade of Lemont High School’s history, beginning with the 1890s. It includes historical dates, nostalgic photos, and advertisements from businesses in Lemont and the surrounding communities.

Lemont’s Junior Achievement organization annually builds a business from scratch. A student-led board creates a product, sells stock in the company and markets the product, with a goal of reaping dividends for its shareholders.

This year’s Junior Achievement Board has been hard at work to bring a commemorative 125th Anniversary calendar to the Lemont High School community. That board includes seniors Melissa Smith (President), Conner Brandt (Vice President of Production), Connor Koehler (Vice President of Marketing), Josh Traynere (Vice President of Public Relations) and Stephanie Eby and Joe Pavlovic (Vice Presidents of Finance); and junior Rachel Brunory (Vice President of Human Resources).

The Junior Achievement Board combed through school archives and worked closely with the Lemont Area Historical Society to capture the rich history of Lemont High School while creating the calendar.

The cost to purchase the 125th Anniversary calendar is just $10 for individuals who pre-purchase calendars prior to delivery, but that cost will increase to $15 after the calendars are delivered in mid-January. Calendars may be picked up from Lemont High School’s main entrance between 2:45-5:30 p.m. on January 14-15. Calendars will not be mailed.

Individuals who are interested in purchasing their own 125th Anniversary calendar should visit the company’s website—which was designed by freshman Martynas Juskelis—at www.daysanddecades.com. The calendar can be purchased online from the company’s Web site, or can be purchased by downloading an order form from the site and returning it to the school to the attention of Junior Achievement advisor and Business teacher John Aspel.

Established in 1919, Junior Achievement is an educational nonprofit organization that brings financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs into classrooms from kindergarten through high school. Junior Achievement of Chicago is the largest of the organization’s offices in the United States. Its programs empower students to make a connection between what they learn in school and how it can be applied in the real world—enhancing the relevance of their classroom learning and increasing their understanding of the value of staying in school.

Lemont High School’s Junior Achievement entry last year - “Lemontopoly” - was named Chicagoland’s Junior Achievement Company of the Year.