Senator Joni Ernst pays visit to Ottumwa High School

OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) -

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst paid a visit to the Ottumwa high schoolers on Thursday in an effort to learn about the school’s iJAG program.

The program, Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates, helps high school students build up skills for their careers after they leave the classroom. Ernst tells KYOU that even in rural areas such as Ottumwa students have many opportunities saying: “There are rural communities and they still do have opportunities, locally. Visiting a local hospital, nursing homes. Because, many of the students want to go into nursing. So, being exposed to those opportunities is important.”

She adds that specifically in Ottumwa there are tons of great options for students to learn and get hands-on experience without going to a bigger city.

“I feel really good about our future. there is a lot of leadership potential right here in the iJAG classroom. They shared so many different community service projects that they are working on and ways of getting into different career fields. Just their intent for the future and it makes me feel very good as a nation to see young people stepping up to help their community,” she added.

Ottumwa High school is one of the only high schools with the iJAG program available to them. Senator Ernst says she hopes more schools hop on board.

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