Indiana pulls funding from JAG workforce prep program, affecting thousands of students

Jayme Bellman said students taking her jobs class at Eastern Greene High School in south-central Indiana expected something easy.

They tended to be students without plans after high school. Maybe they had more barriers to graduating, such as being bullied, growing up in a low-income family or having spotty attendance.

No matter their backgrounds, Bellmen expected students to show up to her Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) class like she showed up for them. JAG specialists in this state program aimed to build real-world skills and show options beyond high school.

“We're not just standing up, regurgitating information,” Bellman said. “We live it with them. We do it, we show them, we teach them. At least for me, I treated them like an adult, and they were one of my employees.” JAG primarily helped 11th and 12th graders, though some schools expanded it to younger students. Then, a JAG specialist like Bellman could continue to work with students for another year after they graduated.

Read more at: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-cuts-jag-college-career-prep-program