JAG Insider News

Dress for Success Phoenix visited the JAG program at Coolidge High School in May to share their current clothing collection. As one of our volunteers, this nonprofit alleviates the burden of cost for students interested in buying professional wear for job interviews.

Each new school year, returning and new JAG members come together to grow personally and professionally through the many resources JAG has to offer. One of JAG’s largest student recruitment events on May 13 rang in a promising school year with sign-ups of more than 50 potential JAG students.

On May 12, Coronado HS JAG students toured the Boeing Company facility in Mesa to learn more about the aerospace industry and careers available to them. As one of our Employer Partners, Boeing offers competitive jobs for our JAG graduates and alumni.

The Career Development Conference brings JAG programs from all across Arizona together to build connections with each other and potential employers/programs, celebrate their growth, and compete in individual and team events. Four students share their perspective on applying their skills and passions in the competitions.

The Career Development Conference brings JAG programs from all across Arizona together to build connections with each other and potential employers/programs, celebrate their growth, and compete in individual and team events. Four students share their perspective on applying their skills and passions in the competitions.

All year long, our JAG students have shined their inner light through their projects, community involvement, leadership, and the skills they have developed. Those who competed in the Public Speaking Competition shared their stories of how they have ignited their greatness in their lives so far.

JAG members have the unique opportunity to compete in designing the cover for the Career Development Conference (CDC) Program Booklet every year. The theme of this year’s CDC: "Ignite Your Light - Greatness Lies Within" presented students with the challenge of designing a cover that showcased the theme and what JAG means to them.

All year long, our JAG students have shined their inner light through their projects, community involvement, leadership, and the skills they have developed. Those who competed in the Public Speaking Competition shared their stories of how they have ignited their greatness in their lives so far.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, JAG hosted camps to provide students fun opportunities to continue their personal and professional growth beyond the classroom. This summer, JAG plans to reopen these exciting camp opportunities while following COVID-19 safety precautions.

Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates Career Development Conference (CDC) held at the Mesa Convention Center on April 26 was the culmination of the students’ year-long professional and leadership development activities in their JAG programs on school campuses and in communities throughout the state. The conference was sponsored by APS, Arizona Coyotes Hockey Club, Honeywell, Integrity Staffing Solutions, and Synchrony Financial.

The ribbon cutting ceremony held on April 20th at the East Valley HUB marked the start to a workforce development program partnership that will benefit youth and Grad Solutions Students in Mesa.

On March 30th, Integrity Staffing sponsored JAG’s annual Interviewing Skills Competition at Phoenix College. Twelve of our Employer Partners attended the event to interview more than 25 JAG participants for current job opportunities and to offer feedback for future success.

Kenneth M. Smith Scholarship Recipients will receive $2,000 to support their postsecondary plans.

A JAG student in her junior and senior years of high school, Anna Tovar has come full circle as she now serves as a national board member for JAG and Corporate Commissioner for the state of Arizona. Tovar brings the lessons she learned from a young age and her time in JAG to working for vulnerable communities across Arizona and ensuring access to a safe and healthy environment for years to come.

We sat down with APS Instructional Designer Vania Pacheco to discover the career possibilities available to our JAG students and alumni, as well as career advice for life after high school.

Each year several JAG programs participate in a JAG tradition known as the Initiation and Installation (I&I) ceremony where JAG students ring in the new school year by electing Career Association officers and showing their families and community their dedication to reaching their highest potential.

On March 23rd, 2022, Tolleson’s JAG Works and Teen Council programs were invited to sit in on a presentation by members of the city council about possible accommodations for a future Aquatics Complex. It was hosted at the Parks & Recreation Center, with a general concept of the Complex posted on the wall. However, city leaders wanted to get the opinions from the youth in the community on what they felt was important to include.

Bryan Cortez, a senior at West Point High School and a JAG participant, has been passionate about cars for as long as he could remember. It wasn’t until JAG and the Career and Technical Education program (CTE) when he began to see how his passion could grow beyond a job and become a career. Reaching this point in his journey, however, wasn’t easy.

Longtime President and CEO of Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates will be retiring after 41 years with the organization. During her tenure she successfully secured more than a million dollars in new financial support, developed new partnerships that expanded programming across the state, and deepened relationships with state and local government, businesses, and education leaders.

The warm, morning sun shined down on the Rose Garden as 100 JAG students from 15 programs across Arizona lined up at a registration table. It wasn’t just any school day for them — it was ‘Faces of JAG’ Legislative Day.