Mt. Pleasant student earns third place at national JAG competition

MT. PLEASANT — Senior Brian Tiet of Mt. Pleasant High School won the opportunity to attend Jobs for America's Graduates’ (JAG) Nationals competition in Dallas May 5-7.

Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates’ (IJAG) programming focuses on six man skill areas: Personal Skills, Basic (soft) Skills, Leadership, Job attainment, Job Survival and Career development.

These skills are generally the areas in which IJAG students participate in regional, state, and national level competitions.

Students participate in regional competitions to wet their feet and gauge interest.

From regional competitions students are recommended by their specialists (or teachers) for state competition.

Iowa’s state level IJAG competition had approximately 500 student participants.

The top student in each competitive category is then moved forward to the national level competition.

Of the 60,000 JAG students nationally, 21 students from Iowa were advanced to the national competition.

Four of those students were in attendance to compete for a place on the national IJAG leadership council.

Tiet advanced in the category of financial literacy and achieved third place in the nation.

Additionally one Iowa student group including Zain Mohd from Waukee High School placed first in Creative Decision Making and three others from Iowa placed within the top 10 of the nation.

According to IJAG President and CEO Laurie Phelan the program was created for students who have experienced adverse situations in their lives which caused them to turn into themselves.

“They start doing things that allow them to hide away or act out in ways that don’t match with who they were born to be,” Phelan said. “They don’t have to keep secrets anymore. They can let that all out and be supported.”

Phelan feels deeply for the IJAG students because she worries that without someone coming along side of these students and helping them see themselves, see opportunities, and guide them along that pathway.

“They are our future. They are valued. They are so needed,” Phelan said.

For Tiet IJAG is like a second family who celebrates successes, holds each other up, and encourage one another.

Teit said that he was given the opportunity to participate not only in his financial literacy competition, but also attend workshops and meet many people from various career fields.

In order to win third place, Teit had to take a 50 question test with 3 additional tiebreaking essay questions.

The questions covered topics such as insurance policy, mortgages, economy, consumer behavior, investments, employment, and credit cards.

Phelan has immense pride for all that Tiet has accomplished with IJAG.

“Brian learned not just personal finance, he learned how to communicate effectively, how people in the United States think about money, and the ability to answer the judges questions well,” Phelan said.

All Iowa JAG students make Phelan immensely proud.

“Our Iowa students do an excellent job of helping people see the importance of investing in their future,” Phelan said. “They just wow their judges”

Students felt that pride during the award ceremonies when the category winners were announced.

Tiet stood on stage in a sharp black leather jacket with the other top 10 of his category and anxiously waited to hear the top winners.

Once his name was called, Tiet jumped in excitement, gestured to encourage the crowd to celebrate, and happily accepted his third place award.

“My goal for the trip was not to win, but to enjoy it,” Tiet said.

From the way he smiled and jumped around the room as he recounted the trip, it was obvious that he certainly did enjoy it.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com