As a volunteer for Junior Achievement, Shirley Wheatley helped a class of fifth-graders develop a horse ranch from a sole ownership to a major corporation with stockholders.

The &uot;Too Hot to Trot&uot; ranch may have been just make-believe in the Morgantown Elementary School classroom, but Wheatley said the class learned real-life lessons about business.

&uot;There were little rewards I would never have thought of,&uot; she said. &uot;Pencils, business cards they filled out, stock certificates for role playing.&uot;

The horse ranch was just one of the lessons Zelda Argue’s fifth-graders learned in their five 45-minute lessons with Wheatley, one of about 12 JA volunteers this year.

The fifth-graders also learned about job applications, assembly lines and different types of businesses.

Wheatley’s only complaint about the project? &uot;There just wasn’t enough time&uot; to complete everything she wanted to do, she said.

The aim of Junior Achievement, said local director Cynthia Parker Brumfield, is to &uot;show the children that there are opportunities out there.&uot;

&uot;We are trying to bridge the gap between school and business,&uot; she said.

The theme for the fifth-grade Junior Achievement program is &uot;Our Nation,&uot; which teaches students about U.S. business operations and economic issues.

Natchez’s Junior Achievement project is paid for through part of a $125,000 Schools-to-Careers grant administered through the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority. The grant money was awarded by the Mississippi Department of Education.

Brumfield has been running the Schools-to-Careers program for the EDA and has overseen several other projects such as February’s Groundhog Job Shadow Day, Career Dress-Up Day for elementary students and Career to Curriculum Day for high school students.

Getting volunteers from the business community to share their expertise is valuable, Brumfield said.

&uot;It’s showing (students) that there are people out there who do care,&uot; she said. &uot;That this is why you need to apply yourself.&uot;

Junior Achievement had programs at Cathedral, Trinity, Natchez Middle School, McLaurin Elementary School and Morgantown Elementary School, according to Christie Butts, district program manager for Junior Achievement.

Local businesses which contributed funding included AmSouth, Byrne Agency and International Paper.

&uot;By bringing volunteers from the business community into the classroom to share their experience with students, Junior Achievement programs teach young people how to understand and appreciate the link between education and future success in the workplace,&uot; Butts said.

Wheatley, a former substitute teacher and community college instructor, said she enjoyed her time in the classroom.

&uot;That was my first experience with it, and I found it extremely fascinating,&uot; she said. &uot;It was great.&uot;

The packet Wheatley and other volunteers worked from included visual aids such as posters and transparencies, as well as workbooks for the students and pens which they put together in an assembly line and were able to keep as souvenirs of the program.

On the assembly line, students took the pens apart and put them back together to study the most effective ways businesses use their time and materials.

In addition, students in the program learned about the job application process. Wheatley said the brain-storming sessions allowed the students &uot;to think further than just what’s in front of them.&uot;

Wheatley said the program encouraged the students &uot;to become productive, working, educated citizens.&uot;

&uot;That’s when I got on my bandstand,&uot; she said. &uot;I emphasized the importance of education.&uot;