Four educators from Southwest Michigan have been honored by Youth Solutions at the organization’s eighth annual Summer Summit, held in Mount Pleasant last month.

Youth Solutions Director Roger Curtis tells us more than 140 were on hand for the summit where Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates coaches received awards for the work they do with students.

“The curriculum and the mentoring and the coaching that is part of Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates is done by what we call a specialist, and those specialists are part of our partnership program,” Curtis said. “So every summer, we bring those specialists.”

Curtis says Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates prepares students not only for success in the classroom, but also in the workplace by teaching them how to interview, how to write resumes, and how to dress for the workplace.

“We dig into some career exploration, career awareness opportunities for them so they can start to see the why are they in school and what is at the end of this. It’s not just a diploma, it’s not just your chemistry class, your math class, it’s the skills that you’re getting there that are going to transfer.”

Benton Harbor High School’s Corey Sterling, Eau Claire High School’s Anita Jones, the Bridge Academy’s Billy Coleman, and Hartford High School’s Jocelynne Braddock all received awards at the summit. Curtis says they do amazing work with students as part of Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates.

Also honored at the summit was Whirlpool for its mentorship program in Southwest Michigan. Curtis says Whirlpool’s involvement in the JMG program is truly unique when looking at other areas of the state. He says Youth Solutions wanted to salute the company with its JMG Impact Award, which is like a lifetime achievement award.