CALUMET CITY | In spring 2005, Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 set its sights on 69 juniors who were at risk of not graduating in 2006.
With the help of the Jobs for Illinois Graduates program, 57 of those students graduated last June. By November 2006, 10 of the remaining 12 had earned their high school diplomas and the other two were working toward theirs.
Around 90 percent of the 69 students are either enrolled in college or employed now, said Lisa Bouler Daniels, an English teacher and a career specialist for the program at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing.
This year, District 215 targeted 41 students each at TF South and Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City, Bouler Daniels said.
Participants in the Jobs for Illinois Graduates are students who have enough hours as juniors to graduate as seniors but are at risk of not graduating, she said.
