Staff Interview: Rochelle Mitchell
12/15/2022
Staff at Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates are very passionate about their work, especially when it comes to our students. Rochelle has been with Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) since 1998 and started out as a Career Specialist at Kenmore High School. While working as a Specialist, she was able to build bonds with the students she worked with and helped them along their path to career readiness. As Rochelle explained, “When we talk about our students, it’s like we are talking about our kids. I say that because they really do feel like our kids. We want to see them be successful, give back to their community, and we want to help to make a difference in their lives.” She continued, “We love the ability to help get kids work experience. We help them earn a living and get needed skills to be successful.”
As laid out in the JAG model, the ability to help our students achieve job success is something taught in classroom settings, after-school classes, out-of-school education, and workplace environments. This cannot happen without the JOG employer engagement we build through networking and being involved in our community. Rochelle shared, “Our relationships with employers are important because they allow students who may not have an opportunity in the field they want to be in have a first step through the door.”
Rochelle now operates as the County Coordinator in the Summit County JOG office. In this role, she acts as supervisory support for the Specialists across the county to coordinate efforts both educationally and through extracurricular activities. She also has coordinated monthly meetings with Specialists for updates on how things are going in Summit County as well as how she and the JOG staff can better support them.
Our JOG staff work hard to ensure student successes across Summit, Stark, Medina and Trumbull Counties. These efforts are the backbone of what we do at JOG and have been Rochelle’s mission since she started her JOG career at Kenmore High School.