Jackson plan will help students get jobs

Jackson High School officials recently unveiled a program that will help students who need it most.

There are many teenagers with good attitudes, good attendance and good work ethics, but they suffer from disabilities that keep them from writing resumes and having strong job interviews.

Under the Supervised Work Experience Program, such students will learn skills in school, get part-time jobs during their last few semesters and receive assistance with any problems they had in completing their work satisfactorily. Employers will be subsidized for 150 hours of work after the student's graduation.

The idea is to address a problem with disabled students in Jackson. Educators discovered that 35 percent of Jackson's 2001 and 2002 graduates with special needs had no gainful, meaningful employment one year after graduation.

This program will be a cooperative effort among the school district, the Workforce Investment Board as a funding source and Jackson employers. If all work together, undoubtedly it will benefit both the businesses and the students.