JOG Students Strive at State and National Competitions

Y.O.U. Participant Places 10th in the Nation

Last month, ten students in our Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates program (JOG) were able to compete at the State and National level! Following our annual Youth Career Olympics, select winners were able to move on to the state conference, hosted by JOG, and the national conference, hosted by Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG).

On April 21, six students competed in the State Career Development Conference. Accompanied by Y.O.U. Career Specialist Instructors, the group departed early the day of the competition to make their way to Columbus. The event consisted of various competitions and workshops. The students competed in the same categories as they did at YCO, including Program Cover Design, Knowledge Bowl, Prepared Speaking and Community Service. The state participants were:

·      Cleveland Heights High School — Savannah

·      Glenville High School — Zameara, DeMarcus, Jeren

·      Maple ECAC — Imani

·      Maple Heights High School — Terence

Jeren from Glenville took home third place in the state for Prepared Speaking category.

“Stick with what you know, be yourself, walk in with confidence,” he advised. “Be 100 percent in whatever you do.”

Jeren noted the importance of making connections. “Everyone has some sort of wisdom; it just depends on if you take it or not.”

National Career Development Conference

A few days later, four of our JOG students and a Career Specialist Instructor departed for Indianapolis for the National Career Development Conference. Now in its fourth year, the NCDC rotates cities and offers competitions, workshops, career expo, plus a chance to explore the city. Approximately 700 students attended from across the country.

The Y.O.U. students competed in Employability Skills, Financial Literacy and Prepared Speaking. The national participants were:

·      Cleveland Heights High School — Dana, E’lyana, Jordan

·      John Marshall School of Information Technology — Abraham

JOG student Dana noted before the trip that she was surprised and excited to be attending national. “I did not go into YCO thinking that anything would really come of it,” she said. “I ended up winning my section and I'm going to national, so I'm extremely shocked by that. But very happy and excited.”

Marcos “Abraham” from John Marshall secured a 10th place award in the nation for Financial Literacy, placing as a top finalist against 35 other competitors.

“I felt proud that I knew more of the things on the test then I thought I would know,” Abraham said, adding how he enjoyed interacting with the other students during the conference.

He noted before the trip that he had never been out-of-state before. “I feel like it's going to open my mind to how big the world really is, because I've never left here before. And I feel like it helped me mature more if I got the chance to go and do something like that.”

E’lyana from Cleveland Heights also was “beyond excited” to be going out-of-state by herself for the first time.

“In my prepared speaking, I'm an identical twin, and I talked about how I struggle doing things alone, but this is like the first big step of me doing stuff alone,” she said.

“Representing my school, Cleveland Heights, nationally means so much to me,” E’lyana added. “I am honored to be given this big of an opportunity and I am going to make the most of it.”

Alongside the competitions and professional development, the students were able to visit the Indiana Motor Speedway Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo & Aquarium, plus enjoy a glow tropical dance party!

“This is a really good opportunity,” Jordan said. “Something that'll look great going into college. And something that'll help me develop for the career that I want to pursue, which is something in public speaking or journalism.”

Thank you to our corporate sponsor, The Cleveland Cavaliers, for sponsoring all expenses for both competitions.

 “Thank you so much for giving us high school students the opportunity to go to state level and the national level and for helping us make those connections,” state award winner Jeren said to the Cavs.

Congratulations to all of our students for representing Northeast Ohio at an elite level!