The day after he graduated from Hempstead High School, Justin Beck started a full-time job as a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist at Decker Precision Machining in Peosta—no small feat in an economy in which few high school students can find even part-time summer jobs.

But just three months earlier, Justin’s post-graduation plans had been far less clear. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he says. “Judy Simon, Hempstead’s I-JAG Education Specialist, told me about this new advanced manufacturing program.”  He credits her in helping unlock his potential.

Bold education reforms result in ten-percentage point increase over the last decade!

Ineffective dropout prevention programs were eliminated….and replaced them with more effective programs, including Jobs for America's Graduates, which has a 95 percent graduation rate.

Governor Brian Sandoval describes the implementation and success of JAG-Nevada in the first year of operation.  He described the $1.5 million request to the state legislature to expand the number of JAG-Nevada programs over the next two years.  Governor Sandoval describes taking part in the Initiation and Installation Ceremonies held in the test sites.

Dontel Watkins, a former Jobs for Tennessee Graduates' student at Antioch High School and graduate of the Class of 2008, signed as a free agent with the Tennessee Titans.  Dontel, like many other JTG graduates, will be striving against heavy odds to reach his goals but he will have a lot of hometown supporters rooting for him.  He is a determined young man.

Dontel Watkins hopes to fulfill NFL dreams with Tennessee Titans - Written by Jim Wyatt The Tennessean May 1, 2013:

Jobs for America’s Graduates and AT&T Team Up to Help Students Succeed - Support will help JAG reach more youth at risk of dropping out

Alexandria, Va., April 23, 2013 – Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) and AT&T are working together to raise the nation’s high school graduation  rate by expanding  mentoring, tutoring and other academic support for students at risk of dropping out.

iJAG student, Mike Bernard, from Davenport Central High School, was awarded a $1,350 Scholarship from Quad Cities Career Connections. Mike was the winner of a Logo Design Contest conducted by QC Career Connections. iJAG students in the Quad Cities, as well as East Moline and Rock Island, IL were eligible to participate in the contest. Students could submit up to three drawings, based upon criteria that QC Career Connections provided.

The Cross Creek High School Career Association in Augusta, Georgia demonstrated its compassion by conducting three events which targeted individuals, groups and organizations that assist people who have been affected or who are living with the debilitating disease call cancer.

Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) is a national state-based 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preventing dropouts and securing job and college success for young people who possess a multitude of barriers to success to be eligible for JAG Program services. Since 1980, JAG has delivered consistent, compelling results – helping nearly 950,000 young people to stay in school through graduation (or completion of a GED), pursue a postsecondary education and/or secure quality employment that leads to career advancement opportunities. This Annual Report is dedicated to the students served by the nearly 900 highly professional and well-trained JAG Specialists who work tirelessly, creatively and persistently to identify the right young people with barriers to academic, personal and/or career success; deliver engaging and effective outcomes-based JAG Model services; and, achieve extraordinary “success against the odds!” JAG is a life-changing experience for those fortunate to be selected in a program that is customized to fit the needs of its participants.

Gov. Brian Sandoval celebrated a high school dropout prevention program he helped launch in Nevada at Desert Pines High School on Wednesday night.