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Iowa’s high school dropout rate has continued to climb, but Laurie Phelan, CEO of Iowa Jobs for American Graduates Inc. (I-JAG), says her organization is doing all it can to help curb those numbers.

I-JAG strives to reduce the number of students dropping out of Iowa high schools and get them onto the next level after graduation, whether it’s continued education or a career.

“We identify schools that have students who need additional support, and we focus on leadership skills, some academic support, but mostly those employability skills, those 21st-century skills that you hear a lot about,” she said.

Next year, the group will run 27 I-JAG programs across the state and plans to extend its reach into middle schools as well. Phelan said most of the students who participate in the program are considered high-risk and/or have some type of barrier that could prevent them from graduating.

“We want to build a relationship with these kids and say, ‘We have high expectations for you, but we are going to be there for you,'” she said. “We aren’t going to feed them all the time, but we are definitely teaching them how to fish.”

Phelan said the statewide graduation rate last year was 88 percent among the general population, but students who participated in the I-JAG program had a 93 percent graduation rate, and “that’s among high-risk kids,” she said. “That says something; the model works.”

But the model doesn’t stop after I-JAG students receive their diploma. I-JAG follows each student for one year after graduation to ensure that the student continues to follow the career or education path he or she set while in school. Phelan said the organization just launched a pilot program with Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) called the Early College Success Program. An I-JAG career specialist will work on the DMACC campus, helping I-JAG students once they start classes.

“We will kind of nurture them onto the college campus,” she said.