High school students receive trophies at career conference

By Lanet Hane

A group of seven Windham High School students attended the JMG Career Development Conference at Thomas College and took home two trophies last month. The conference was the largest one ever hosted by JMG, with more than 650 students participating from all over the state.

Left to right: Jennifer Williamson, Ashley Virgin, Aisha Nelson, Danielle Gaudin, Payton Hutchinson, Cecil Ramsey, and Jayden Gonsalves

JMG offers a continuum of support to help students transition from middle school through high school graduation, onto post-secondary education through degree attainment and connections to successful career pathways. 

Windham has had a JMG course offering in the high school for a number of years and is also piloting a middle school program this year. The conference is specifically designed as an opportunity for High School students in JMG programs to showcase the skills they have been working on in class each day.

A number of categories of competition take place, focused on real life application of skills, including an entrepreneur category that required students to create an app. Jayden Gonzalez and Cecil Ramsey participated in this section, placing in the Top 5 teams.

“I am exceedingly proud of my students,” says Jen Dumont, JMG Specialist with Windham High School, “This conference gives kids the opportunity to be on a college campus, showcase their ability to be responsible and professional, and show what they are capable of. I am so very happy with the way my students represented our school.”

Jen Williamson, who received high scores for her College Admission Interview, agreed that the conference “was a pretty great opportunity”. She is one of several students planning to continue with the JMG program next year and is eager to win a trophy in the category in the future.

Danielle Gaudin, Aisha Nelson, and Ashley Virgin took first place in the decision-making category, and Danielle Gaudin also took 2nd place in the Employee Interview Skills Category. The team also received high scores for the Team Challenge.