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JILG Featured School:
Thompsonville HS

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Jobs for Illinois Graduates (JILG)is extremely proud to feature Thompsonville High School as its featured school of the month. Thompsonville is located approximately 45 minutes south of Mt. Vernon and 15 minutes southeast of Benton, IL. Thompsonville is a small town with a population of 600 people and the high school has a 2008 enrollment of 94 students. Thompsonville is a small close knit community where the local population is always willing to lend a hand to make their community a better place to live.

The JILG program at Thompsonville High School served 36 students during the 2007-2008 school year, while providing follow-up for the class of 2007. Over the years, the Thompsonville JILG program has had a great deal of success with their service learning projects. JILG students at Thompsonville have raised money for Hurricane Katrina relief, raised money for St. Jude’s with the “Quest for a Million Pennies” program, and just recently donated over 100 jackets and coats with the “Bruce and Rick’s Baskets of Jackets” coat drive.

The students also get first hand experience exposure to career opportunities through guest speakers such as Hickey College, U.S. Army, Devry University, Bi-County Health Department and through field trips such as our trip to Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The students also learn basic job interview skills, building portfolios and constructing resumes. With events such as the Leadership Development Conference, Career Development Conference, and Initiation and Installation Ceremony, the JILG program provides great opportunities for students to develop social networking skills and develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments in the community and school.

The Thompsonville JILG program continues to benefit students following their graduation. For the class of 2008, the JILG program was able to help 100% of its students graduate and help place 83% of students in full-time placements. The main goal of the JILG program at Thompsonville High School has always been to give the students the skills they need to graduate and enter the job market with the skills and confidence needed to succeed.

About the Specialist

Kyle Hobbs is in his third year as a JILG Specialist at Thompsonville HS. He has an Associate Arts degree from Rend Lake College, a B.S. degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and is currently working towards his master’s degree from McKendree College.

Kyle’s favorite activity in JILG is the service learning projects. The students have a great time and they really enjoy helping others. It is also a great way for the students to get first hand, real world experience outside of the classroom.

"My best JILG moment this past year was when we took a field trip to Southern Illinois University Carbondale to see the campus. We stopped at the Student Center and the kids had a great time bowling, playing pool, and playing video games in the arcade."