Jobs for America’s Graduates continues to grow

In the 2009-10 school year, a new program was set up in the Wagner Community and Andes Central school districts. The program, called Jobs for America’s Graduates – South Dakota (JAG-SD), was modeled after a program developed in Delaware in the 1980s. JAG-SD aimed to help high school students who needed extra supports to not only succeed in high school, but also to thrive after graduation.

The JAG-SD mission is simple: to provide youth in South Dakota with the skills and support they need to succeed in education, employment, and life. To achieve that, students who are identified as being able to benefit from a JAG program are invited to apply and be accepted into the JAG program – or as it is collectively know, as the JAG family. From there, they take a class each year with a JAG specialist who helps them to develop competence in six core areas: basic skills, job attainment, job survival skills, career development, leadership and self-development, and personal skills.

Over the past 15 years, JAG-SD programs have grown from two school districts to twelve; together, those districts serve hundreds of students who face an array of challenges – from trauma and poverty to a lack of positive role models and needing to meet adult responsibilities at home. Three school districts -- Vermillion, Wilmot, and Brookings -- are launching the program for the first time this year.

Jobs for America’s Graduates is a national program with 33 states participating. Each summer, the organization holds the JAG National Training Seminar, which is the most extensive professional development experience for JAG teachers and administrators. For the second year in a row, JAG-SD received the prestigious “6 of 6 Award,” which is given to those states and programs that exceed all six of JAG’s performance metrics aimed at graduation and employment – a tall order, but one that speaks to the quality of the South Dakota program and the dedication of its specialists.

Those performance metrics include graduation rates, employment rates, further education rates, and the rate at which specialists stay connected with JAG students after they leave the 12th grade – the “connectivity rate.” South Dakota’s JAG program in SY 2023-24 exceeded each of these metrics. Beth Schneider, the JAG-SD director, was at the National Training Seminar in Las Vegas in July to accept the award. Although each of the metrics is important, and all reflect the hard work of the JAG specialists who work in the schools, the area she is most proud of is the connectivity benchmark.

“I’m most proud of our 100 percent connectivity rate – meaning that every JAG specialist connected with 100 percent of students in the year following their senior year, whether they graduated or not,” Schneider said. “JAG supports students beyond high school.” That commitment to relationships between students and JAG specialists is the number one factor that drives JAG-SD’s success, she said.

Schneider hopes to continue growing the JAG-SD program. In two years, provided the program has the support of stakeholder investment, she foresees large-scale growth for JAG-SD.

To learn more about the program, visit the JAG-SD webpage.