News and Events

BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal joined BESE members Glenny Lee Buquet and Jim Garvey to announce that Louisiana’s high school graduation rate has increased by 3.7 points to 70.9 percent and that the cohort dropout rate has decreased from 17 percent to 14.6 percent between 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The jump in Louisiana’s graduation rate triples the cumulative gain for the prior three years combined. The cohort dropout rate also represents a four point decrease since 2007-08, when it was 18.6 percent.

The $800,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation for 19 of our Affiliates has moved into the implementation phase.  The grant is largely directed to the 19 State Organizations that operate as non-profits (or that have a supporting non-profit dedicated to their work).  The recipients of the Walmart Grant have all begun submitting Implementation Plans consistent with the requirements of the grant, which has two central priorities:

Clinton, NC – Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) and AgCareers.com partnered to excite talented youth about careers in the agribusiness industry.  This relationship has lead to sponsorship of the third annual ‘What Does Agriculture Mean to Me’ essay contest.Sarah Maccaro’s winning essay rewards her with a trip to attend the JAG Student Leadership Academy which was held in Washington D.C., November 18-20.

My trip to Washington, D.C.
By Michael Aguire, Member
Prudential Leads Team

I had the honor to be a part of the Prudential Leads Team to represent JAG Arizona at the JAG National Student Leadership Conference which has been held in D.C. every year. I was encouraged by my JAG coordinator, Mr. Kartler, to interview for the position on the JAG Leads Team and was one of eight candidates to be selected to be on the team. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I learned much about myself and what it takes to be a leader as well as better individual.

The 2011 National Thought Leader Event was hosted by Governor Jack Markell as Chair and featured U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  The focus was on SOLUTIONS for high-risk minority youth – both academic and economic.

A group representing Jobs for America’s Graduates-South Dakota at the Wagner Community Schools delivered one of the keynote presentations, “Student Success and the JAG Model,” at the National Indian Impacted Schools Association (NIISA) Annual Meeting and Conference in Las Vegas, NV, December 5, 2011.