JAG-A-Palooza Season 2022

JAG-A-Palooza is a traditional JAG program event that takes place in September-October, with various programs hosting the showcase event on their school campuses. The event spreads awareness about JAG to each program site’s community and serves as a community engagement opportunity for JAG students, their school peers, teachers and administrators. Pictures featured in this blog post are from Peoria High School JAG, Coronado High School JAG, Wickenburg High School JAG, West Point High School JAG, and Tohono O’odham High School JAG and show some of the fun and hard work that make this event possible. 

Students organize the event from assigning roles and responsibilities to creating booths and displays. It is one of the first events of the year and is primarily led by the Career Association (CA) leaders with support from their class and program coordinator. The CA mimics the structure of a student government board, but the uniqueness is found in its focus on preparing students to lead in their future workplaces whether that’s on a committee or in a leadership position. 

Each JAG program displayed key components of what makes them special to their school. Booths and activities focused on: 

• How leadership development is built into the Career Association, conferences, and year-round events
• Opportunities for career exploration: guest speaker presentations, job shadowing, field trips, internships, mock interviews, networking, and Career Days
• College, university, and vocational/trade school preparation through support in filling out FAFSA, exploring programs and majors, and completing applications
• Involvement in local community service
• Social and civic awareness through community-building in the classroom, social media management, organizing campus events, and attending Legislative Day
• The importance of professionalism 
• Academic support and resources

“I was pretty proud of how everything looked,” said Coronado JAG senior Gabriella Mascarino. “I thought everyone looked great. Most people came professionally dressed, and we all looked the part for JAG. The booths looked good. The turnout—everyone was engaged. It was a really successful JAG-A-Palooza for us!”

The next upcoming event for JAG programs is the Initiation and Installation (I&I) Ceremony, where programs induct their program officers for the year in front of their families. 

Stay tuned for student success stories throughout the year.