Every iJAG student who graduates is a “success story” to us. The success of iJAG is truly in the stories of our students and graduates. Please take the time to read about the positive impact we are making in schools, students, families and communities across Iowa. Learn more about how iJAG has changed the lives of some extraordinary individuals!
For 12 years, iJAG’s mission has been is to help students with multiple barriers to graduate from high school and/or transition from high school to continued education and careers. These are just some of their stories.
Marguerite's Story
I am a sophomore at Des Moines Area Community College. My road to graduation was not an easy one; it started in middle school, with the peer pressure and wanting the acceptance of my peers. Like any child wanting to be accepted, I followed because at that time school was not important. I passed middle school, but the scary thing was I realized that high school was not going to be any easier; however, with the outside influences from my teachers and mentors I became an active member in Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates. Finally I had a reason why I wanted to go to school. I still struggled from time-to-time, but I had family involvement and teachers who cared about me graduating. The day of graduation I proudly walked across the stage and finally realized what I had accomplished, and I was proud to say I made it.
Jaime's Story
I currently live in Perry, Iowa and am attending Perry High School. I used to live in Carson City, Nevada and was a really bad student and it all happened after my parents separated when I was in 5th grade. I was living with my mom, who was now a single mother and never home because she was always working hard and trying to earn money to feed her children. Those days were really hard because there was no one around to tell me “NO!” so I was always out in the streets and I just didn’t care anymore about school or anything. I would hang around with the bad crowd and went from an A and B student to D’s and F’s. My whole sophomore year was basically a huge party for me. I would be working full-time and spending all the money on whatever I felt like and school wasn’t even in my mind. I looked at my uncles who aren’t even from this country – always working hard and I looked at myself knowing that in my mind I didn’t want to spend my whole life working at a hard labor job knowing that I could have been successful at something. So I decided to move back to Perry and try to get back on the right track. At Perry High School I enrolled in iJAG my junior year. It got me focused to stay in school and follow a career that I want. It got me focused because my instructors really pushed me to work hard and keep my grades up. It also helped me realize that I enjoyed working with young kids and wanted to teach them things. That put me on the track towards the teaching profession.
Arturo's Story
I am a senior and enrolled at the iJAG program at my high school. With my job and all of the activities I am involved in school has not always been the easiest thing to do. I can recall right from the start of my freshman year, I had started struggling in school because of classes and the whole new scenario of high school. I remember that some of my friends, after their freshman year, were really behind in their credits so they got really discouraged. They did not want to go to summer school or take classes with next year’s freshmen. This eventually led to most of my friends dropping out of school. I think one of the biggest barriers that we face in high school is our freshman and sophomore years. We feel so alone because most of our counselors don’t really reach out to us until we are juniors or seniors. So we feel like we have been forgotten during our first couple of years of high school. I feel this contributes to teenagers dropping out. I believe that if we had more programs like iJAG that work one-on-one with students to help them stay current with their grades and involved in activities around their school, kids would feel less deserted and would feel more encouraged to stay in school.
Isabelle's Story
Hello, I'm not quite sure if you remember me, but I hope you do. I'm Isabelle M. I went to D.C. my junior year in high school (I believe), my I-JAG teacher was Mrs. Reinert. Well school hasn't quite started yet for the semester and I was desperately looking for something to do, so I came across the I-JAG website and your e-mail so I decided to just say hello and hoping all is well with you and I-JAG. I'm currently a junior at Buena Vista University and it seems as if everything gets ten times harder once you become a junior, but that only means I have to just work harder. I just continue to keep my head up and be grateful because I know a lot of people my age struggle with finding the means to get a college education. I'm also grateful and wake up every morning thanking God that at least, I am not a freshmen, because I only have one more year to go ; ). Every now and then I think about high school and miss it. Not because of the lunch food (which was awful!!!!) or anything else, but really because I-JAG. I learned so much and had the opportunity to experience many things. I-JAG taught me to take initiatives and being in I-JAG was my first time ever taking on a leadership role and it was because my teacher had faith in me, supported and pushed me to be better. So I guess it true then what people say "when you know better, you do better". I don't know if I ever said this to you but "THANK YOU". With this said I hope you and the whole I-JAG crew have a fabulous week, oh and by the way HAPPY NEW YEARS!! I know it's sort of late. : )
God Bless
