Michael Flood, a 2024 graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo High School, prepares a lunch order for a customer in the kitchen at the Corsair Cafe on Tuesday, June 16, at the Terre Haute Regional Airport. Flood says he learned a lot from his Jobs for America’s Graduates class his senior year. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza
Michael Flood, a 2024 graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo High School, prepares a lunch order for a customer in the kitchen at the Corsair Cafe on Tuesday, June 16, at the Terre Haute Regional Airport. Flood says he learned a lot from his Jobs for America’s Graduates class his senior year. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza
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Michael Flood, a 2024 graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo High School, learned a lot from his Jobs for America's Graduates class his senior year.

It helped him focus on what he wanted to do after high school, and he better understood the kind of income he’d need to make to pay real-world bills.

He learned how to do an effective interview, put together a resume and work as part of a team. Flood had lived away from Vigo County since sixth grade, and when he returned his senior year, he didn’t have a close group of friends; because the class was small, he developed new friendships through JAG.

“It’s like a family,” he said. Now, he’s taking classes through Ivy Tech and plans to study business administration, and he will be able to transfer to a four-year college in the future, if he chooses. He also has a job at Corsair Cafe at Terre Haute Regional Airport.

Flood is optimistic about his future.

“JAG was a big part of me finding my place at [North Vigo],” he said. “It really helped me focus on what I want to do with my life.”

Educational attainment, employability skills

Jobs for America’s Graduates is a state-based, national non-profit organization dedicated to high school completion and post-secondary success among young people who may have barriers to graduation and/or employment.

It is administered by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Students learn in-demand employability skills and receive career exploration and coaching experiences.

Program goals focus on both educational attainment and workforce.

“We want them to graduate … to raise their GPA or have better attendance so they are more academically prepared for whatever comes next,” said Brianna Morse, director of youth initiatives with the Department of Workforce Development.

As far as the workforce component, “We consider ourselves a talent pipeline for employers,” she said.

Through JAG’s curriculum, “We are turning out kids who understand work ethic. They are prepared to go to work. They know what it means to show up. They know how to deal in conflict resolution with co-workers,” Morse said.

While JAG Indiana has been around for 17 years, “We still feel like we are a really well-kept secret, and we’d love to not be a secret anymore,” Morse said.

Since its inception, JAG Indiana has served more than 40,000 Hoosier youth.

While it aims to reach those who may face challenges, it’s open to anyone. “We’ve had valedictorians as well,” said Greg Lee, JAG Region 7 manager, which includes Vigo, Vermillion, Parke, Sullivan, Clay and Putnam counties in west central Indiana. The goal is to ensure all participants graduate high school, “but we also want to make sure they have a plan for after graduation,” he said.

That plan might be college, the workforce, an apprenticeship or military; it’s their choice. “We just want them to have a plan,” Lee said. “We’ll help with whatever the plan is.”

JAG students receive adult mentoring while in school and one year of follow-up counseling after graduation or after their senior year.

JAG specialists will follow up at least once a month for the next 12 months post graduation “to make sure they are where they want to be, and they are successful and make sure they are doing okay,” Lee said.

The program is funded through grants provided by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Programs aim to have about 35 to 50 students, and students might be referred by a school counselor or teacher.

It is a high school class for which students receive credit; those involved also do work-based learning and community service. Work-based experiences can include paid internships, job shadowing and industry tours.

It is for high school juniors and seniors, and JAG also offers a middle school program.

Vincennes University, working under the umbrella of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, is the service provider for JAG programs in Region 7 (west central Indiana) and Region 8, which includes Monroe and nearby counties.

Every region in the state has a service provider.

‘Be their best selves’

Maggie McCormick, 33, a JAG specialist at Terre Haute North Vigo High School, just started in that role spring semester and had Flood as a student.

She watched Flood flourish in the JAG class, as his confidence grew and he developed a plan for his future.

McCormick believes it’s important to meet students where they are and help them make a plan to find success and “be their best selves.”

Among the activities this past semester, her class did mock interviews, including some with industry professionals.

She also had students research their dream job and what kind of salary it pays. Then, she asked them to develop a budget and determine if that job and salary would support the lifestyle they hope to have.

The JAG class teaches both job skills and life skills, she said.

This summer, she is doing followup contacts with seniors who graduated, perhaps helping them apply for scholarships or work on job searches, if that’s what they need.

If students did not graduate, she connects them with community resources, such as the Vigo County School Corp. adult education program, to attain their high school equivalency, if that is what would work best for them.

McCormick, 33, said she’s had a variety of jobs, and she knows there’s a shortage of labor in Indiana; she’s also worked for the state’s Work One program in the past.

“I know what works and what doesn’t in the workforce,” she said. Her goal is to help students “be their best selves so they can support themselves and figure out what it is they’d like to do. I want them to be successful, whatever their definition of success is.”

Doubling the JAG programs

In August of last year, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced a statewide initiative to increase the number of JAG programs in Indiana from 125 to 250 by January 2025.

In Indiana, the JAG class of 2023 had a nearly 97% graduation rate. The goal for JAG programs nationally is a 90% graduation rate.

Briana Morse of DWD said JAG statewide is on track to meet the statewide target of 250 programs by January.

Effective this next school year, Region 7 in west Central Indiana will expand from eight to 16 programs, including four middle school programs, said Lee, JAG Region 7 manager.

In Vigo County, North, South and West Vigo high schools currently have JAG programs.

JAG students graduate at higher rates than their high school peers, Morse said. “That really tells a story that this is transformative.”

She adds, “In my mind, JAG is very successful in helping the students that need us the most.”

Morse attributes much of the success to the JAG specialists, who helps students find their individual path and follow through with their plan.

The specialists “celebrate them as they come through. A lot of our kids have never had opportunities to be celebrated for anything,” she said.

Lee said that JAG fits in well with the state’s proposed revisions to the high school diploma, and it already “fits in well with the current graduation pathways,” in particular the section dealing with learning/demonstrating employability skills.

JAG success story

Kassie Wade, 2024 Indiana State University graduate, credits JAG at Cloverdale High School with helping lay the foundation for her successful college experience.

She told her story during a recent Region 7 program in Terre Haute.

JAG lays out what students can expect after high school and college, she said.

While she already had confidence in her abilities, “I think it taught me how to use my confidence in a way that was going to set me up for better success,” she said in an interview.

“I also think that for some of my peers, it helped them realize they can do things they never thought they would be able to do,” Wade said. “It helped them get a jump-start on everything. I think everybody kind of took what they needed from it.”

Wade said she also learned about professional networking through JAG, which helped her seek out several opportunities at ISU.

Wade, who majored in sport management, said her many involvements at ISU included joining a sorority, traveling abroad and working for the Indiana State Sport Network as a sideline reporter.

Her senior year, she had an internship with ISU athletics in which she assisted in planning the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships. She also served as emcee at men’s and women’s ISU basketball games.

She was voted by faculty as the 2024 Sport Management Student of the Year.

But the most important lessons she learned in college included investing in meaningful relationships, networking, “putting yourself out there” and learning early that mistakes are what help people grow.

“JAG helps students learn these lessons prior to furthering their education or entering the workforce and sets us up for success,” she said.
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