Junior Achievement of South Florida Marine Industry Storefront, Sea The World, Is Leased For The Next Three School Year Term

We are proud to announce that Junior Achievement of South Florida's Marine Industry Storefront, Sea The World, has extended its stay for the next three school years (2022-2025)! 

Junior Achievement Background

Junior Achievement of South Florida is a training facility that guides the next generation of business leaders, employees, and consumers by educating students about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness.

Fifty-four thousand students visit the facility's JA World Huizenga Center at the Lillian S. Wells Pavilion, comprised of industry "storefronts" in JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. With over 60,000 square feet of learning areas, these interactive learning environments transform how students are taught entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy.

Sea The World - The Marine Industry Storefront

Our nation as a whole is experiencing a workforce crisis. The maritime community faces an aging workforce, with skilled labor being very hard to find. 

In an industry where skill sets and specialized career tracks are vital to its prosperity, "Sea The World" was built in 2019 to inspire the younger generation who entered its walls to consider working in the marine industry. 

Sea The World comprises nine walls that showcase shipyard trade workers, engine room specialists, yachting professionals, and other career specialties like marina management, training, and boat building, to name a few. 

The marine industry storefront has already impacted 80,000 students! Here's what Jenna, an 8th grader who visited the storefront, had to say after:

"Thank you for allowing me to get to know how it's like to be an adult. I loved the job that I worked at (Sea the World). I was the manager and made very good amount of money. It was fun knowing how it's like to make money and how to spend it, and it was also very helpful for when I get into the real world. So thank you again!"

 As the storefront's lease ended in early 2022, our very own Christine Battles, Sea The World Spearheader, and Megan Lagasse, Marina Manager at Pier Sixty-Six, knew they had to keep the momentum going.

New Partners for 2022-2025

To extend the marine industry storefront's lease, Christine and Megan had a goal to raise $160K. The support from maritime businesses and associations was overwhelming, and they exceeded their goal by raising $186k! 

Here are JA Sea The World's new donors/partners for 2022-2025:

• Advanced Mechanical Enterprises, Inc.
• AERE Docking Solutions
• Cliff Berry, Inc.
• Elite Marine A/C
• King Ocean Services
• Global Marine Travel
• IGY Marinas
• Marine Industries Association of South Florida/MIASF
• MarineMax, Inc.
• Maritime Professional Training/MPT
• OneWater Yacht Group
• Palmdale Oil Company
• Pier Sixty-Six Hotel & Marina
• Roscioli Yachting Center
• RPM Diesel Engine Co.
• Safe Harbor Marinas
• Seabulk Tankers (Seacor)
• Thomas Marine Sytems
• Universal Marine Center
• Wards Marine Electric
• Water Taxi Fort Lauderdale
• Wright Maritime Group

Two founding partners will continue supporting the storefront as in-kind sponsors, providing web hosting and promotional advertising to raise more awareness about “Sea The World”.

www.jaseatheworld.org

In-kind sponsors:

AdvantageServices.net
The Triton

With the money raised, not only will the storefront be leased, but we'll also be able to "turn up the volume" by adding exciting and engaging elements. We also plan on developing scholarships with Junior Achievement! Stay tuned to learn more.

There's still a lot more to be done in the maritime industry across the nation, but we're grateful that JA Sea the World can continue to be a stepping stone in bridging the maritime workforce gap in Florida.

A BIG thanks to the businesses, associations, and individuals who made this possible!