On March 11, 2016, the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) State Career Development Conference (CDC) was held in Indianapolis and we are pleased to announce that our region sent 11 students to compete and represent Northwest Indiana.
Among the Indiana JAG schools competing for recognition, there were approximately 162 students competing for scholarships filling the day with a genuine competitive spirit, and pride of representing individual regions.
Areas of competition included Career Presentation, Employability Skills, Creative Solutions, Writing Skills, Critical Thinking, Financial Literacy, Public Speaking, Entrepreneurship Planning, Outstanding Senior, and Conference Cover Design. There were also four events where students were judged on entries that required a more artistic and technical side—producing a JAG Chapter Commercial, a Service Learning Blog/Video Diary, a Marketing Brochure, and the Cover Design for the CDC Program.
Our 11 local JAG students qualifying and attending this state conference and competition were Michael Talaga, Thomas Shaw, Bobbie Maassen, and Emily Feece from Knox High School; Alexis Ford, Khalia Moore, and Shenia Coles from East Chicago Central High School; Miya Bailey from William A Wirt/Emerson VPA; Cidnee Stewart from West Side Leadership Academy; Skylar Marks from Calumet New Tech High School; and Loren Crawford from AK Smith Area Career Center.
Scholarships were awarded to: Thomas Shaw from Knox High School-1st place for Critical Thinking and a $750 scholarship, and Michael Talaga from Knox High School-2rd place for Creative Solutions and a $500 scholarship. Loren Crawford, a finalist for Outstanding Senior, from AK Smith Area Career Center received an honorable mention.
Knox High School won 1st place in the Chapter Marketing Brochure competition. JAG Specialist, Mollie Dollahan, of Knox High School accepted this award.
For information on the Northwest Indiana JAG program, an initiative of the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board, contact Tamara Stump at 219-462-2940, ext. 32 or tstump@innovativeworkforce.com.