ASHEBORO, N.C. — You know how it is, transitioning from high school to college to the workforce can be daunting, but one program is trying to change that.
"Today we are launching our Jobs for North Carolina’s Graduate Program here at Asheboro High School. In this program, we’re going to teach students 37 competencies to build their durable skills, so they know how to do things like shake hands and make eye contact, be a team player, learn leadership skills, and plan for their future,” CEO of Communities in Schools, Jill Cox, said.
For the past five years, Jobs for North Carolina’s Graduates, or JNCG, has been partnering with high schools across the state to help prepare the next generation of workers.
“JNCG is, in my eyes, a program to help you get ready for life. A lot of kids are like, “Man, why doesn’t high school help me with a résumé? Why doesn’t high school help me with taxes? Why doesn’t it help me get ready for a job?" This class is that," said Elijah Hawkins, a junior at Asheboro High School.
"The JNCG program is a class that helps with my career path, it’s like the future that I wanted, and it helped me with everything including my social skills and everything," ViaJae Johnson, another junior at Asheboro High School, said.
Thanks to a $500,000 donation from Toyota to their parent organization of Communities in Schools, JNCG has been able to expand its reach.
"We started with eight schools and we’re growing year after year and we’re doing that because of partnerships like Toyota, at the end of the day we can programs in because we have partners who help us support the work and make it possible," Cox said.
After six weeks, Asheboro High School after six weeks, students are already seeing results.
"I think that it has helped me personally because my grades have been maintaining a high grade, and my attendance has gotten better than what it once was last year," Asheboro high school student, Yarisbeth Alejo, said.
“It helps you get a résumé done, it gives you a bunch of connections, I got offered a job at Toyota," Hawkins said.
“Every time I watch one of our students go from, “I’m not sure how to do this”, to the lightbulb going on, you see that smile, that charisma, that internal confidence pops out. They get this really great glow, it gives me chills every time I see it, and I know each one of them has amazing potential," Cox said.