SALISBURY, Md. - A new learning facility is coming to Eastern Shore students. The initiative comes after Junior Achievements of The Eastern Shore announced a historic partnership with The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and The Richard A. Henson Foundation to create the new Perdue Henson Junior Achievement Center.
What is currently an empty building and empty parking lot will be soon filled with school buses and students eager to learn.
Junior Achievement of The Eastern Shore announced a partnership with the Perdue and Henson Foundation, to convert 25,000 square feet
Which is just a portion of the old Kmart in Salisbury, into a learning facility.
Where students from across Maryland and Virginia's Eastern Shore counties will get real-life career experiences.
Jayme Hayes is the president of Junior Achievement of The Eastern Shore. She says after five years of planning she's excited to see the vision slowly come to life.
"We are actually engrained into their curriculum so students don't sign up to come to J.A. everyone comes to J.A., so we will provide opportunities to all types of students whether that's language, disabilities, or anything," explained Hayes.
The center is expected to look similar to other Junior Achievement facilities.
The Perdue and Henson Foundations gave 1.25 million dollars each towards the project.
Kim Nechay is the Executive Director of the Perdue Foundation. She says she knows firsthand what junior achievement means to students
"I was a junior achiever myself so I know how important this kind of programming is to teach not only financial literacy but teach kids about career opportunities and help expand their horizons it sure did that for me," said Nechay.
Salisbury Mayor Jake Day says he's excited to see the city continue to grow for years to come.
"It's not just the jobs that will be coming to this center it's also going to enable young people to choose to stay here, start their business, join an existing enterprise...It's going to enable a more business-savvy population," explained Mayor Day.
Preparing students on the Eastern Shore for success.
"Ten thousand students will come through these doors and we hope that they leave with a true understanding of how important it is to find a job you love, a career, and be able to provide for your family," added Hayes.
Junior Achievement tells WRDE construction for the project has not started, but they are hoping to welcome students by Spring 2023.