AUBURN – The Auburn Exchange Club has made a $600 donation to Junior Achievement of Maine.

Junior Achievement claims to be the longest-established, largest and fastest growing nonprofit economic education organization in the world, reaching 4.3 million elementary, middle and high school students in the United States and 125 countries.

The Maine Junior Achievement program serves about 13,000 students statewide from York to Houlton, and about 1,500 students in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Maine Junior Achievement placed more than 446 volunteers in 115 schools and 45 school districts this year.

Junior Achievement takes a partnership approach to education. Junior Achievement matches funding and volunteers and classrooms. Educators provide access to students in the classroom; corporations, businesses, service clubs and individuals provide volunteers and financial resources.

One of the goals of Maine Junior Achievement is to teach students the basics of government and the economy. They focus students on the economic implications of their education. JA has been developed as an in-school, rather than an after-school program. It is requested by teachers as an in school activity.

For more information, contact Anne Washburne, program and council operations director, at [email protected]. The Maine Junior Achievement offices can be reached at 591-9005.