News Release: JAG-K Earns Top National Honor for 10th Year

TOPEKA – For the tenth consecutive year, the Jobs for America’s Graduates national organization announced that the Kansas affiliate earned the organization’s highest award for achievement.

Additionally, 36 Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) school-based programs earned the prestigious 6 of 6 Award (an expansion of the 5 of 5 award previously presented by the national organization) for 2024.

(See below a list of all Kansas schools to receive the award.)

The 6 of 6 Award is bestowed upon those JAG programs that meet or exceed performance measures in six categories: graduation rate, employment rate, full-time employment, total full-time positive outcomes, connectivity rate, and continued education rate for the graduating class of 2023. JAG has a 12-month follow-up period with all seniors as part of its evidence-based, data-driven national model.

“This marks a decade that the Kansas affiliate has received JAG’s highest award,” said JAG-K President and CEO Chuck Knapp. “This accomplishment speaks to the work of all our Career Specialists across Kansas. And it means there are thousands of young men and women across the state who left high school ready to succeed.”

JAG-K helps students prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities. JAG-K programs across the state, serving 5,844 students, reported a graduation rate of 96 percent for the Class of 2023. Additionally, the state reported an 84% positive outcomes rate (which means 84% of JAG-K graduates are either in post-secondary education, military service or in the workforce full-time one year after graduation).

JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 6-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally-accredited, evidence-based model.

The 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 38 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, EagleU, Goldstein Charitable Trust, the JB and Anne Hodgdon Foundation, Honeywell, John Deere, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Gas Service, the Kansas Insurance Department, the Office of the Kansas State Bank Commissioner, United Way of Kaw Valley, United Way of the Plains, U.S. Bank and Walmart.

To learn more about JAG-K, visit  www.jagkansas.org , ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, and on Twitter at @JAG_Kansas.

Recipients of the JAG “6 of 6 Award” and their Career Specialist for the 2023-2024 school year:

Arkansas City HS                               Dae’trell Gordon

Augusta HS 1                                      Andrea Pletcher

Augusta HS 2                                      Mindy McCormick

Beloit HS                                            Jacee Tice

Concordia HS                                     Christina Henderson

Dodge City HS                                   Vianey Martinez

Eudora HS                                          Dana Chance

Garden City Achieve AE                    Erika Schafer

Great Bend HS                                    Danielle Ricklefs

Kiowa County HS                              Marcus Mitchell

Holcomb HS                                       Melinda Gerstberger

Hutchinson HS                                   Marcus Moeder

Independence HS                                Kristie Hawley/Brian Norvell

Junction City HD Karns AE               Willie Woods

Junction City HS 1                             Valeria Bernal

Junction City HS 2                             James Denton

Marysville HS                                     Emily Gartner

Minneapolis HS                                  Jay Macy

FL Schlagle (Kansas City) HS 2        Kyleigh Pittman

JC Harmon HS 2                                 Jaylen Cook-Gibson

JC Harmon HS 4                                 Ian Pittman

KC Wyandotte HS                              Alexandria Trakas

Larned HS                                           Israel Hagerman

McPherson HS                                    Skyler Hill

Newton HS                                         Kylee Raigoza

Pittsburg HS                                       Quinn Hobbs

Parson HS                                           Mark Pound

Russell HS                                          Raina Tomlinson

Shawnee Heights HS                          Kami Mead

Shawnee Mission West HS                Kay Rolls

Stafford HS                                         Alyson Rice

Topeka HS                                          Tasha Lewis

Highland Park HS (Topeka)               Vernon White

Wichita North HS                               Kareema Williams

Wichita Southeast HS                         Ashley Baughns

Wichita West HS                                DaMarshae Franklin

Winfield HS                                        Shanna Groom

Wichita Southeast HS                         Mario Ponds

Wichita West HS                                Joyea Marshall

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