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Last Updated:
05.31.2007
About Us:
Jobs for Illinois Graduates at a Glance
It is the Vision of Jobs for Illinois Graduates (“JILG”) to champion every Illinois student who faces barriers to education or employment, and to provide each student with the tools necessary to forge a bright and successful future. The impact of providing students with the support and skills necessary to succeed will reach far beyond our classrooms. JILG provides a challenging, informative, and pertinent program for young adults preparing to embark into the real world. The experiences of these students will greatly contribute to shaping the future of our schools, our communities and our emerging workforce.
To accomplish our Vision, JILG partners with high schools that wish to offer the JILG program to their students. As a JILG partner, high schools commit to establishing a JILG Advisory Committee, requiring the participation of district teachers, guidance counselors, and administration personnel; and to hiring a Career Specialist to teach the curriculum. The Career Specialist is critical to the success of the JILG program. Working with approximately 35-40 students, the Career Specialist establishes a one-on-one relationship with each student, playing a unique role of teacher, guidance counselor and mentor.
A year-round, one-credit course, the JILG program is an experiential-based curriculum that combines classroom learning with student enrichment activities. In the classroom, the Career Specialist teaches 37 core competencies, which consists of six skill sets: (1) personal skills; (2) leadership skills; (3) communication skills; (4) job attainment skills; (5) job success skills; and (6) career development skills. To help nurture leadership development, oral and written communication skills and career development skills, JILG students belong to the local chapter of the Illinois Career Association. As part of their membership in the Association, students also participate in service learning projects in their community.
The JILG program has increasingly expanded its program and services, while steadfastly improving its outcomes. JILG vigilantly tracks and responds to program outcomes, while keeping students at the center of the educational process. In the Class of 2004, over 95% of our students graduated from high school. In the year following high-school graduation, over 85% pursued higher education, obtained employment, enlisted in the military, or a combination thereof on a full-time basis. Over 40% immediately pursued higher education.
For nine consecutive years, JILG has been nationally recognized as the best statewide program of its kind for exceeding national standards for programs working with at-risk youth. Program performance standards are monitored by the Center of Labor Market Student at Northeastern University and Jobs for America’s Graduates.
JILG currently partners with more than 65 high schools through Illinois, 20 of which are in the City of Chicago, and serves approximately 2,000 students from more than 300 Illinois communities each year.