 The school year in the Brainerd Lakes Area will soon be underway along with the junior achievement program. Jane Patrick is the recipient of this year's Brainerd Lakes Area Volunteer of the Year Award. Sarah Winkelman has more. Over 200 volunteers head to classrooms across the area in an effort to connect the students with their community. Jane Patrick is one of those volunteers who has touched the lives of young children in the Brainerd Lakes area. I love being in the classroom volunteering with these little children and doing it and they're a lot of fun and you know they all will call me Grandma Jane so I'm noted for that and it's just to see the smiles on their face and it's something a good program for the school district. The volunteers for junior achievement worked directly with the teachers to set up times throughout the school year where they learned about a wide range of topics depending on their age group. Their little faces light up when the teacher teaches them about something we've been learning or they'll say oh we have that in Brainerd and just to make those real-life connections is really cool. Here in the first grade classroom it's all about community. Junior achievement teaches the kids about the importance of families and how their jobs and businesses contribute to the community. It's kind of made the kids stop and think a little bit about helping mom and dad at home helping our community clean up, don't litter, recycle. The materials for volunteers are user-friendly encouraging anyone to take part. It's very prescriptive while at the same time it allows the flexibility for the volunteer to add that personal component that they bring that makes them unique as a volunteer. For nearly 15 years Jane has used her life experiences to educate local students. There are so many great career opportunities within our own community that so many people myself included are unaware of and so it's a really great opportunity for everybody to be able to say we have opportunities for success within our own community. You don't have to leave to be educated. You don't have to leave to find a great career path. We have all those opportunities right here in the Brainerd Lakes area. Throughout the years of junior achievement programs the organization hopes to empower kids to own their economic success. Reporting in Brainerd Sarah Winckelman, Lakeland News. And junior achievement recently received a $12,000 Crowing Community Impact Grant to continue to grow their job shadow program. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.