Jobs for Virginia Graduates Specialist, Tyler Brooks, recognized several Tazewell County Career and Technical Center students for their accomplishments with the Jobs for Virginia Graduates Program at the January meeting of the Tazewell County School Board.
Two senior students at Tazewell County Career and Technical Center (TCCTC), Hope Looney of Graham High School, and Miranda Brewster of Tazewell High School, were voted in by their peers as the president and vice-president of the Tazewell County Career and Technical Center’s Jobs For Virginia Graduates (JVG) Career Association. Both students had a desire to do bigger things while at TCCTC and applied to be state JVG officers for Virginia. After a grueling application process, both students were accepted as delegates for the JVG state team.
Brewster and Looney were two of only nine students in the entire state to be selected for this position. Upon being selected to serve as state delegates, Miranda and Hope were invited to attend the Jobs for America’s Graduates National Student Leadership Academy in Washington DC. During the leadership academy, these two students were able to meet and network with other students from around the United States. They were also afforded the opportunity to meet the current Miss America, participate in the wreath changing ceremony and changing of the guard ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, and tour many of our nation’s famous monuments.
Most importantly, on this trip, they were able to have a private meeting with Virginia’s 9th District Congressional Representative Morgan Griffith at his office in Washington DC. During their conversation with Congressman Griffith, they expressed their concerns about the unemployment rate in Southwest Virginia and how they believe this problem could be mitigated through encouraging people to work with the Jobs for Virginia Graduates program.“It’s not often people get to sit down with their congressmen in their private office, but these girls made that accomplishment all their own. “Hope and Miranda are both stand-out students and all of Tazewell County should be proud of them for their accomplishments and representation of the county,” said Jobs for Virginia Graduates Specialist, Tyler Brooks.
Brooks also recognized students who are competing in the Jobs for Virginia Graduates Ignite Competitions. These JVG students have already made it through the district competition and will be competing at the Jobs for Virginia Graduates Ignite State Competition at Radford University in February. The Ignite Competitions are various types of business competitions that JVG students can choose to compete in. Miranda Brewster, Jayla Famer, Kydalynn Brown, and Wes Dudley will be competing as a team of four in the Ignite business competition to show off their concept of a brand-new product that they have created on their own called the Trek Torch. The Trek Torch is a concept for a new walking stick light attachment to be used for hiking, camping, hunting, and other various outdoor activities.
Hope Looney will be competing in the prepared speech competition in which she will be giving a speech on how Jobs for Virginia Graduates has impacted her and how it has prepared her for the future. Lastly, Abbigail Wiley-Toler will be competing in the career preparation competition. In this competition, Abbi will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on her chosen career of obstetrics. If the students win at the state competition in Radford, they will then be invited to compete at the national competition in Indianapolis, Indiana in the spring.
“I just want to say how proud I am of each of these students for making it this far. Students like these make coming to work for me a joy each and every day and I think it is immensely important that we recognize their hard work and dedication by giving them recognition whenever we can do so,” said Brooks.
