Attala County resident Arrik Newsome will lead a program focused on putting local young people who face significant challenges to work.
Jobs for Mississippi Graduates has recently moved into Attala County, with its out-of-school program the only one of five programs available here at this time.
According to JMG’s website, this program serves young people who have left the traditional school system and are interested in completing requirements for a high school diploma or GED. The primary mission is to recover dropouts and provide an array of counseling, employability and technical skills development, professional association, job development, and job placement services that will result in either a quality job leading to a career after graduation and/or enrollment in a post-secondary education and training program.
The program also assists low-income youth who have graduated high school but are deficient in basic skills. Low-income individuals who require additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment may also be served.
Newsome, a graduate of Alcorn State University, was contacted by JMG Executive Director Ramona Williams about bringing the program to Attala County and he quickly joined the effort. After accruing 30 years of experience in education including serving as a high school math teacher for the past decade, Newsome retired from McAdams High School in June. He also previously worked in the Winona and Holmes County public school systems.
Arrik Newsome will head the youth jobs local program.
Landon Gibson / The Star-Herald
But his desire to serve young people did not allow him to remain stagnant in retirement for long. Once he heard about the program’s premise, he eagerly got involved.
“I love the concept. I absolutely love the concept. It has added support to the school system,” he said. “Having taught 30 years in the school system, one of the things I've always said is that the schools can't do it all.”
Newsome said his program supports young adults aged 16-24 that are not currently in school who have dealt with some unexpected obstacles. The program accepts individuals who may have dropped out, gotten their GED, or completed graduation but cannot find employment. In fact, the program even helps those who are employed gain additional job skills and certifications.
“The first word is jobs, so we are trying to get them employed. In some cases, a student may be employed, and the program can give them additional training to help them upgrade. One example would be offering forklift training to provide the opportunity for workers to increase their wages or salary,” said Newsome.
Currently, Newsome is operating the program remotely, but said an accessible location may be coming soon at Omega Revival Center after renovations are made.
He said the main thing keeping young adults from the workforce is a lack of transportation, motivation, and job skills. JMG’s out-of-school program will provide transportation to those needing rides to job interviews or work. Job training and skills will also be taught, including work etiquette, dressing for interviews, resume tips, the importance of showing up to work on time, and more. Newsome also plans to put members in touch with resources available at Holmes Community College.
The program can even provide monetary resources to help ease the job process — even for employers. Other than providing transportation, compensation for gas mileage can also be awarded.
For employers, the program can cover the first two or three weeks of wages for JMG members hired. This helps eliminate risk for employers hiring someone new during the employee’s first few weeks on the job.
Newsome said working for the past 35 years with youth fueled his desire to continue serving them. He has coached baseball, flag football, and soccer for his kids’ teams, and he also coached high school baseball for a number of years. He has been married to Angie Newsome, a retired school teacher from McAdams and Long Creek, for 34 years and they have three children.
“Working with young people is really invaluable. I’ve been working with youth all of my life, and this is just another opportunity to help young people,” said Newsome. “My favorite part is lifting these young adults up and bringing them up from where they were. It is absolutely rewarding seeing them take that next step.”
Program background
In 1990, Jobs for Mississippi Graduates (JMG) became an affiliate of Jobs for America’s Graduates — a state-based, national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting young people of great promise. JAG’s overall goal is to serve youth who face significant challenges, to help them reach economic and academic success.
JMG is a private non-profit organization initiated in 1990 to serve public school at-risk and disadvantaged young people. The JMG curriculum is modeled after JAG, which equips students with a minimum of 37 of 86 employment & basic skills competencies developed by JAG that will prepare them to pursue postsecondary education upon graduation from high school, secure a quality entry-level job, enter the military, or attend vocational school.
Since its inception, the program has served over 50,000 students and maintained an overall 90%+ graduation rate, a more than 90% retention rate, and an 80% total positive outcome rate among the students it serves.
JMG’s mission is to establish programs at school sites, using the JAG Model, across Mississippi to enhance the high school graduation rates of those youth assessed as at-risk by providing a set of unique services including 12 months of post-graduation follow-up services. Services provided include employability skills training to reduce youth unemployment and dropout rates while increasing graduation rates among the nation’s most at-risk.
The number one goal of JMG is to combat illiteracy by preparing at-risk youth to succeed in the 21st century workplace through a combination of innovative instructional methods, educationally sound research-based curriculum, effective school/business partnerships, mentors, and work experience. The program is a collaborative effort designed to establish partnerships with schools, students, employers, and communities.
JMG offers five programs: middle school, multi-year, alternative education, out-of-school, and college success.
If anyone is interested in the Jobs for Mississippi Graduates out-of-school program, contact Arrik Newsome at (601) 397-0331 or anewsome@jmgms.org.
