The Sanford's Got Talent 2023 show was a roaring success on Friday, March 10th.
The students' work in the JMG program before the show had much to do with that success. JMG (Jobs for Maine Graduates) partners with Maine's public middle and high schools, community colleges, and university system to help students reach their fullest potential.
JMG specialist Tara Houle has been running the program at Sanford Middle School since 2012. Her program is project-based learning focused.
"Our curriculum is always tied to some type of real-world experience," Houle said.
Before the talent show takes place, according to Houle, students are working on a workforce development unit. They go through learning what an essential, soft, or hard skill is and start practicing them.
Students will then look at the job postings for the talent show. They must apply for the job, fill out an actual application, and write a cover letter. Then they bring that with them to a mock interview with volunteers from the community.
"JMG really strives to make business connections with our community," Houle said. "I think you'll find that most of the local businesses in Sanford know about the JMG program."
Once a student lands a job, they have to work it. They have work evaluations and reflect on how they did.
"It builds a sense of what it takes to be a good employee," Houle said.
The talent show is one of many examples of project students in the program pull-off. JMG students are now in the middle of the Pay it Forward Penny Drive until April 14th.
Each year, Sanford Middle School holds the drive to raise money for a local family in need.
You can watch a news clip of the penny drive in 2017 on WGME here: https://wgme.com/news/local/students-at-sanford-junior-high-school-pay-it-forward
Sanford High School also offers the JMG Program. Cheryl Gifford is the high school's JMG specialist. She has been the specialist since 2017. JMG students at the high school frequently work together with the middle school students. The middle school and high school programs typically volunteer a school day each year to support Toys for Tots Southern York County Maine. Read more about that partnership here.