At first, Lindbergh High School senior Simayah Green didn’t see the value of taking a course that taught practical, ‘real-life’ skills. She thought the class her counselor was urging her to take was for failing students only.

“And I didn’t really think at the time I was failing because I had got caught up in all my credits from SLC (Secondary Learning Center),” said Green.

The course is the Jobs for Washington’s Graduates (JWG) program and it wasn’t long before Green saw its value. Having conquered low grades she received early in high school, Green rebounded at the district’s alternative high school, returned to Lindbergh and this week will walk with the rest of her 2015 graduating class.

The program currently serves 45 students total in the district and Green is one of nine students in the district graduating as a result of JWG.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction administers the program and it is the state chapter of the national Jobs for America’s Graduates program.

Green found something in her JWG program that she hadn’t in other classes. She learned how to manage money, how to rent an apartment and how to finance a college education, among other skills.

“I can’t say I really learned anything academic-based, per se, but I learned tools that I can take away from this program and say, ‘Yes, I’m going to use this in the real world,’” Green said.

And that’s exactly the point teachers and supporters of JWG want students to get. It’s a program for at-risk students, designed to keep them in school, engaged and focused on the future. As a Career and Technical Education course, students receive college and career readiness skills, are mentored to pursue post-secondary education and get assistance securing jobs.

The Renton School District was asked to pilot the program last year at Renton High School and this year it was expanded to all three high schools in the district. JWG has been in the state since 2010 and now serves more than 1,100 students from 47 school sites, including middle schools.

“I like that this program has a past of really helping those students that we maybe looked at as, ‘There’s no way that they even have a chance,’” said Kara Crum, Lindbergh career and job readiness specialist. “This program gives kids a second chance, a second chance to get those skills and move on and feel successful.”

Crum, who taught Green, has witnessed her students go from barely attending school to attending regularly to becoming confident public speakers and to getting employment.

Students are identified by factors such as their attendance, grades, home-life, special education or English Language Learner needs and discipline. Most of Crum’s JWG students have been to the Secondary Learning Center to retrieve credits, after having fallen behind.

Green fell behind and became depressed after her uncle passed away. She was barely able to go to school and her grade point average fell to the 1.0 range. But she worked hard at SLC and returned to Lindbergh more determined to graduate.

“These guys need a plan and sometimes it needs to be small,” Crum said. “Like they can only see a semester, otherwise they get discouraged and they wander off the path.”

Crum works with students individually breaking down each semester and what students want and need to get accomplished. As soon as students hit 16, most want jobs. They learn job skills and find employment in local malls and fast food restaurants. That’s been the experience so far, placing students in part-time and summer jobs, since the program is still new to the district and hasn’t had many graduates yet.

The goal is to help them identify their passion and place them in post-secondary education, training or apprenticeships or the military, said Jay Leviton, district director of career and life skills education.

“We’re passionate about helping all of our kids succeed in our community and this is just one additional safety net,” Leviton said.

For example, Leviton cites students who have enrolled in Renton Technical College’s culinary arts program and the automotive program and others who have joined the military.

As for Green, she works part-time at a grocery store currently and wants to take a year off after graduation. Ultimately she wants to enroll in college and become a pharmacist.

“I’m my mom’s only child to graduate high school, so far, and I have two older brothers, so it’s, like, really, really exciting for her,” she said.

It’s exciting for Green too, she said as she reflected on her journey from freshmen year to present.

“It was a real huge accomplishment for me to catch up and overcome the struggles that I did with not wanting to wake up and come to school or being depressed,” Green said. “It was really hard, but I did it.”