How many of you high school students are absolutely terrified at the thought of growing up? Taking your SATs, applying for college, finding scholarships, getting a job… The list is endless. Some of you may even be scared at the thought of just graduating. Well, if any of you want to ensure that you will be successful in this area of life, become involved with JAG. JAG stands for Jobs for America’s Graduates, and it’s an actual class here taught by a representative from CANI – Community Action in Northeast Indiana. In that class, you will get one-on-one help with finding internships, filling out the FAFSA, and finding out more information about your intended career. The class isn’t really a class, it’s just a period of the school day where you can sit down with other people in the same boat as you are in and work on whatever stuff for your future that you need help with, even if it’s help with another class that you need in order to graduate. Twice a month, everyone in the class participates in “Dress for Success” days, just to get you in a professional mood, and guest speakers from colleges, businesses, or organizations come in to speak about whatever they’re representing to give you information about how to present yourself better on college and scholarship applications, how to find and keep a job, or information about different careers. JAG members participate frequently in competitions. Subjects in the competitions include Employability, where competitors are interviewed like they would if they had applied for a job; Critical Thinking, where they are given a fake scenario to overcome; Financial Readiness, where they are tested on their knowledge of financial trivia; and Creative Solutions where they find a solution to whatever problem they are handed.

Lacretia Jeffers, a senior here at East Noble, has been in JAG for her junior and senior years. She’s now the Vice President for Social Awareness in JAG. She says, “It’s basically like a little push to help you get ready to go out and face the world. I feel like I wouldn’t have any of the information that I have without JAG. It’s a class that successfully transfers the students from dependent to independent.” Lacretia recently won the JAG Indiana Outstanding Senior Award that recognizes the senior who exemplifies the JAG spirit through their commitment to education, community service, and leadership. She won this at the Career Development Competition, a massive leadership convention where she competed in Public Speaking. She even got to sing the National Anthem at the start of the ceremony. “I would’ve never gotten to do that without JAG!” she says.

If you are interested in getting involved in JAG, ask your counselor about it. He or she will help you out, as it’s not a class listed on the course forms that are coming out about this time. Lacretia says, “I thought when I signed up for the class, ‘aw, this is going to suck, but I should take it anyways because it’ll help me in the long run’, and it’s so not what I thought it would be!” JAG can help you out so much. Go get involved. Now.