Briefly in education

Students at Davis Elementary School helped kick off a new three-ye

ar partnership between Junior Achievement and Pepsi last week.

On Nov. 15, more than 30 Pepsi Bottling Group executives -- with

expertise ranging from marketing to manufacturing -- participated in Free

Enterprise Day at the Costa Mesa school, teaching students about their

region and its available resources for business operations.

“We are very pleased to form this partnership with the Pepsi Bottling

Group,” said Gary Hickman, president of JuniorAchievement of Southern

California. “As extracurricular funding continues to diminish, it becomes

increasingly important for the corporate community to step in and partner

with organizations like Junior Achievement to enhance efforts to attract

a leading future work force.”

For the next three years, Pepsi staff will visit classrooms

throughout the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to share business

expertise. They will also participate in a job-shadow program, in which

two students will visit the Pepsi workplace for half a day.