Staff Interview: JK LeSeure
08/18/2023
Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) is lucky to have staff that take our mission to heart and teach it to our students. Across all of the counties we work in, our staff helps young people across Ohio to achieve their academic and career goals. One of these staff members is Stow’s very own JK LeSeure.
JK LeSeure has been at JOG for going on a year now, and he is going into his second whole school year at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. When asked about how he has adapted, he expressed, “It has been a longer learning curve than I was expecting to be fully honest, but I love JOG’s mission and the organization.” JK continued, “The people here are very focused on helping kids and that is definitely the priority. You can feel that in my school and across JOG.”
JK heard about JOG when he began working at Stow as the Cross-Country coach and substitute. This came after a career of working in a variety of manufacturing jobs, as well as coaching track-and-field and cross-country for a number of years. “When the position opened up I lived in Stow, and my kids went to Stow.” JK continued, “On the last day of school, the principal came up to me and said they were looking to expand the JOG role from a half-time role and wanted to see if I was interested, of course, once I learned about it, I was.”
One of the things he has had to adapt to is the school expanding its JOG program while he is there. He has had a difficult time getting his own classroom and now finally has one. He says it’s nice to have a space where his kids can come and relax and have a place that feels like it’s theirs. When talking about what he likes about working at JOG, JK said, “The mission is the intent of the staff and truly the focus. You can’t say that about every organization. Being a positive influence towards my kids is my main objective and JOG helps me do that.”
JK’s experience outside of JOG is something that he says has helped expand his impact at the Stow-Munroe Falls JOG program. “I think my past experience puts me in a unique position to be effective, helpful, and ultimately help people become successfully employed. Though I enjoyed my time in my past life, it wasn’t what I was meant to do, that’s right here at JOG. The more I can provide [our students], the better chance not only for being employed but having some level of happiness in the process.”
We are lucky to be able to have a staff that holds our mission and values dear to themselves like JK. He has been able to take the Stow-Munroe Falls JOG program to new heights and we are very excited to hear more about his experience during his second school year!