Junior Achievement, the national program that teaches schoolchildren about money and business, wants to double its volunteers and quadruple the number of kids it serves in Maine.

“Students need economic education. It’s the future of our communities,” said Filomena Day, a volunteer teacher and member of the Androscoggin County Junior Achievement Advisory Committee.

Junior Achievement started in 1919 for students in Springfield, Mass. It established its first Maine chapters in 1965.

For decades, Junior Achievement ran as a collection of small, after-school high school clubs for young entrepreneurs and future MBAs. About 15 years ago, Junior Achievement volunteers – most of them local businesspeople – began going into classrooms to teach. Younger students learned about money and work. Older students learned about economics and starting their own businesses.

“It’s just a great program for kids. It gets them excited and gives them knowledge about how the enterprise system works,” said Thomas Robustelli, a member of the advisory committee. “It gets the entrepreneurial juices flowing.”

As more resources were spent on classroom lessons, the original clubs folded.

Today, about 500 volunteers teach Junior Achievement lessons to 10,000 Maine students in kindergarten through grade 12. Few after-school clubs remain.

Hoping to revive the old clubs and add more in-class lessons, the group plans to double its number of volunteers and add another 30,000 students over the next four years. On Jan. 25, Gov. John Baldacci will kick off the campaign with a ceremony at the Hall of Flags at the Statehouse.

Junior Achievement will seek help from local companies and businesspeople willing to give money or to volunteer to teach. It has already formed a new partnership with the Portland Pirates, which will allow a Junior Achievement club to oversee ticket sales, facilities and security for one game.

Junior Achievement will also meet with school officials in an effort to get more students involved with the group. About 1,000 school kids are involved in the Lewiston-Auburn area now.