Tuesday, March 5, 2024
There is a nervous excitement in the air as the students file into the classroom. This is a special place any given day of the week—the place they meet to support each other, work on projects, and develop their professional skills for life after high school—but today has a particular buzz around it. Today, the students will be visited by Governor Tony Evers.
Jobs for America’s Graduates, otherwise known as JAG, is a program that provides high school students with one-on-one services that help them graduate and get career focused. The students in JAG are dedicated, passionate, and proud to represent the program, their school, and, most importantly themselves and each other.
Governor Evers has been a long-time supporter of JAG, having made specific line items in his budgets for the program. His genuine interest in the success of the students has been proven through his encouragement for JAG’s expansion across the state. His visit today means a lot to the program and the students.
The classroom is covered from floor to ceiling with the creativity of the JAG students. Handmade signs welcoming visitors to their Spotlight Day, motivational signs about following your dreams, a slideshow plays on the television highlighting the activities and speakers they have experienced over their school year. But the centerpiece is a beautiful three-part mural that adorns a wall overlooking the festivities for the day that depicts the changing of seasons evoking growth, paths toward a bright horizon indicating the continual journey the students are taking, and butterflies tie the three parts together in a nod toward the transformation each student has undergone.
For weeks, the students have been preparing their stories. They have taken stock of how far they have come, what they have achieved, and the value that they have found in themselves and one another. Today, they will share their stories with lawmakers and people who shape the policies that affect opportunities for students like them.
On hand for the celebration is the staff and board members of Forward Service Corporation, JAG career specialists, the teachers of Enrich, Excel, Achieve Learning (EEAL) Academy, Wausau Superintendent of Schools Keith Hilts, and Representative Patrick Snyder. Chatter and polite conversation fills the room as each student finds their seat around the table. They check in with each other to make sure they all have what they need.
Suddenly, there’s a murmur from the hallway as word travels that Governor Evers has arrived. Students and staff alike straighten in anticipation. He enters the classroom and greets everyone with a handshake before finding his assigned seat around the table with the students.
To kick off the festivities, Sarah Jo Dahlstrom, FSC’s Director of Education Programs, presents all that the JAG program has served students around Wisconsin over the last school year: a field trip to the Capitol, visits to college campuses, and career counseling. Most importantly, the dedicated JAG specialists have provided one-on-one support to at-risk kids to ensure they graduate and discover the career possibilities that lie before them.
Soon, each student around the table takes turns sharing their stories of courage to overcome personal hardships and obstacles. One-by-one the students tout their triumphs—each perfect examples of why the JAG program has received bipartisan support, and the reason that Governor Evers is visiting today.
Students describe their experience and accomplishments while in the JAG program.
One student discusses how JAG has taught him leadership skills through special projects and gave him the confidence to find his first job. Another student details her journey toward finding stability at home and school, discovering that the JAG program could provide her with resources, guidance, and an understanding shoulder in the teachers and her peers.
Then, as the next student begins to tell her story, she becomes overcome with emotion, and, in a demonstration of the deep support each student has for one another, the student to her right places a kind hand on her shoulder as if to say, you got this! but it’s okay if you don’t. With the strength of the whole class behind her, she finishes her story leaving everyone in awe.
The students prove themselves to be living testimonies to the power of the JAG program and the perseverance of the human spirit. Each have found skills within themselves and see the career possibilities for their life after high school. These are the future changemakers who know the power, firsthand, of individualized support.
Gov. Tony Evers speaks with students during their panel.
After absorbing the power of the students’ stories, Governor Evers responds with respectful words, thanking everyone for sharing and complimenting their achievements. He then leads a session of questions for the students with contributions from the educators and staff around the room.
What would you like others to know about the benefits of programs like JAG? That not every student learns the same way as others and may need additional or alternative resources to find their own success.
What have you found most valuable from the JAG program? Projects that develop leadership and coordination skills where they can all work together. Field trips and speakers that give real-world experience to careers they might not have otherwise considered.
Where do you see yourself in five years? The answers vary depending on each student’s passion, but all agree that they now see a future for themselves that they didn’t before joining the JAG program.
The day concludes with a round of group photos with Governor Evers and Representative Snyder. There are handshakes all around and individual congratulations. Rep. Snyder hands out his personal business cards to the students, and as Governor Evers departs for his next destination, he says that he will continue to do what he can to support JAG.
A relaxed atmosphere descends on the room now that business has concluded. The students joke with their teachers and each other. The lightheartedness leads them through lunch, but then it’s back to work shaping their future and paving the way to success.
We would like to extend our gratitude to Governor Evers and Representative Snyder for visiting our JAG students. It was a very profound and impactful day for everyone.
Learn more about our Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program.
