Sanford High School held the closing ceremony for the Jobs for Maine's Graduates (JMG) program on Tuesday, May 30.
The program aims to help students develop the skills necessary to achieve their personal and career goals.
SHS JMG Master Specialist Cheryl Gifford started the ceremony with some opening remarks. As part of the ceremony, JMG students nominated Miss Erin Murphy Putnam, a social studies teacher at SHS, to share words of wisdom with the audience.
Putnam was praised for her dedication to her students and her ability to connect with them on a personal level. She was welcomed to the stage by sophomore Alissa Letourneau, who presented the JMG Careers Association and spoke about the importance of establishing high personal and career goals.
During her speech, she praised the level of effort and commitment to Cheryl Gifford. She pointed out that Gifford constantly goes out of her way to check on the well-being of her students.
Putnam also discussed how students should embrace failures and use them to learn from them, using Thomas Edison's quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
Amber Campbell, Isaac Colon, Emily Letourneau, Valerie Randall, and Natalie Green spoke about the goals of the JMG program, which are leadership development, career preparation, civic awareness, civil rights, and community service.
During the closing ceremony, it was announced that the JMG program received a grant to promote career and workforce skills. The program already does this, but this year, students who completed a course that included researching careers and education needed for those careers, reflecting on their values and goals, and then participating in a 40-hour work experience would receive a $500 check.
To date, 62 seniors, juniors, and a few sophomores have received the badge, totaling $36,000 to Sanford students. There are another 40 students who are anticipated to complete the badge over the summer, which means over $50,000 will go to Sanford High School.
All grade-level students were honored during the ceremony. The seniors were recognized for their accomplishments. The senior class includes Joseph Abrams, Faith Allen, Cameron Barker, Jordyn Bolduc, Adrian Bucklin, Austin Briggs, Sebastian Cheney, Isaac Colon, Aaron Crawford, Riley Doughty, Tyson Fogarty, Kenneth Huston, Emma Howard, John Libby, Abbey Lunny, McKayla Martin, Ali Norris, Jazmine Santamore, Lakota Stevens, and Ava Vogel.