Generally, our blog interviews cover the great work getting done by our Career Specialists. However, our staff covers much more than in-school and out-of-school specialists now. We have a business engagement team, a documentation team, those working in juvenile justice, and more! One of the hard workers that we want to highlight is none other than Nicole Argirakis from our documentation team.

These Career Associations are in many of our classrooms. JOG offers these as options for our students to be able to build leadership, collaboration, and general soft skill training right in the classroom. The first step is for existing JOG students to go through an initiation process. This normally is a small ceremony that is hosted by the Career Specialist and sometimes the existing office holders. This is a time to celebrate the student’s continued dedication towards growing their own career knowledge through this association.

Youth employment is at the heart of what we do at Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates. Our goal is to set up the next generation of young people for success in pathways toward their career goals. We can’t do this without the help from our wonderful Employer Partners, who offer workplaces for our students to experience hands-on training, mentorship, and career exposure within their pathway of interest.

Simply put, we couldn’t do what we do without the help of our wonderful employers. It takes someone who is willing to take the extra step of not only employing JOG participants, but also being open to building up the next generation of the workforce through vocational training and guidance. Employers like Doug and his team at Akron Recreation & Parks are a great example of what that looks like.

We love to call our Career Specialists our JOG Superheroes because they are able to make such big impacts on our students’ lives. We do this through our unique education process in-school or out-of-school, helping students face challenges life presents them and everything in between. Specialists like Morgan are so important to helping our students grow into adulthood as well-rounded members of society.

Happy New Year from us here at Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates! We are thrilled to extend our heartfelt wishes as we enter 2024. To get the year off right, let’s go over some of the goals for 2024, with the goal to surpass the remarkable year we had in 2023.

We are so proud of the accomplishments that all our students have achieved since starting the JOG program. Brendon is one of the students who graduated in our July 2023 graduation as a part of our GED program, and we are so proud of his journey with JOG. From being wary of another program that just won’t work for him, to becoming a high school graduate, Brendon has made tremendous strides.

Everyone needs someone to push them in their life. That could be a friend, a family member, a coworker, or a Career Specialist. Our staff at JOG works hard every day to help young people across Northeast Ohio succeed in their educational training, GED programs, and learn lifelong skills through programs like soft skill training. Lauren Eaken is a beacon of what passing positive reinforcement and ambition on to our JOG participants looks like.

2023 has been an outstanding year for us here at JOG. We have been able to expand our services to provide work readiness programs and soft skill training to even more students in an expanded list of schools we are in. We cannot do this without the generous help of our Career Specialists. They help us drive our mission and exceed the standards for programming set by Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG). Here is a little more on our 2023 outcomes and how our work this year helped our numbers soar.

What a year it has been here at Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG)! We have been lucky enough to experience growth across both our staff and programming. This ranges from an expansion of our partnership with Akron Public Schools, to our first ever middle school programming, and even kickstarting a program in Ashland County both in-school and out-of-school.

This year at the Leadership Development Conference, Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) asked our participants to provide written testimonials on their experiences with JOG and some of what they like about the program. We receive plenty of great feedback from students across all 5 of the counties we work in: Ashland, Medina, Stark, Summit, and Trumbull. Here is some of the feedback students provided.

Caring is one of the keys to success in being a JOG Career Specialist. The ability to be proficient in relaying the core values of what we do alongside preparing students for the working world is tough, and coming from a place of compassion and care is the best way to do it effectively. Carolyn French has been a part of Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) for 5 years now, joining in August 2018. She has worked in her role since joining as a Career Specialist for Buchtel CLC and Firestone CLC but transitioned to a new role this year. Carolyn brought with her a background of working with young adults and high school kids and getting them involved in the workplace.

Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) not only provides support related to our students’ education and career paths, but also supports outside the classroom, connecting our students to what they need in their daily lives. To do this, we have created the Endurance Fund, which gives JOG students one-time help for personal barriers that keep them from continuing toward their goals. This could be helping them get a flat tire replaced on the car they use to get to work or purchasing childcare supplies or toiletries when they have started a job but that first paycheck hasn’t come in.

This past Wednesday, 11/1/2023, we hosted our annual Leadership Development Conference (LDC) at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, OH. Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) has been providing a place for our students to learn about how to become inspiring leaders since the LDC’s inception. This year, famed Ohio State University and Youngstown State University coach Jim Tressel gave an inspiring speech on how to be an equitable leader to both others and oneself.

One of the best things about working at Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) is being able to help our students achieve their dreams. From helping our students realize what pathways they want to follow, to getting connected with real-world companies in those professions, JOG works to get our students started on the road to their goals as empowered young adults. Our Career Specialist, Matt Turner was able to do just that with his student Mia.

Staff at Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) play an important role in empowering our students. From building strong relationships, to mentorship and guidance to teaching academic skills, our Career Specialists do a little bit of everything to get our students that extra mile. One staff member who is a shining example of leadership and heart is Tiffany Mealy.