Reynolds: $100,000 gift expands work-based learning for students

BOONE - Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday that a public-private partnership program designed to promote work-based learning for Iowa students will be expanding to four more school districts with the help of a $100,000 gift from AT&T.

Reynolds made a guest appearance at a Boone High School pep rally to inform students their school is one of the expansion sites for the Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates - or I-JAG - program. Other schools that will benefit from the expansion are Iowa City West High School, North Scott High School in Eldridge, and the George Washington Carver Academy in Waterloo. The intent is to use the I-JAG money to help grow opportunities for 200 additional underserved youth to prepare them for fulfilling careers.

'In today's knowledge economy, graduating from high school and being prepared to go to college or build a career is the new minimum for success,” Reynolds told those at the Boone High School assembly.

'Better preparing all students is also critical to achieve the Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of our workforce having education or training beyond high school by 2025,” added Reynolds, who recently joined the Jobs for America's Graduates national board of directors. 'An essential step to help make that happen is increasing school-business partnerships.”

Currently, there are 2,800 students participating in 49 different I-JAG programs around the state and Iowa is one of 34 state affiliates selected to share in $3.5 million from AT&T, according to the governor's office. The company's gift was matched by $205,000 in public and private sector contributions over two years.

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