Equipping Young Adults for College and Career Success
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS PROGRAM
ArtWorks is a college and career exploration program designed to prepare teens with the skills, training, and real-world experience necessary to prepare them for life beyond high school. Eligible teens are high school and post-secondary education students who desire mentorship and are interested in exploring a career in the creative economy, public/private business sector, or civic engagement.
The ArtWorks program provides a safe, non-judgmental space for teens to identify and explore their career interests/aptitudes and provides a supportive community of adults and peers. Teens may enter the program anytime between their freshman and senior year and will be clearly set on a course towards either college, technical school, or employment upon graduation from high school.
Group Tour Days
Creative, public/private, and civic engagement professionals invite ArtWorks students to come to their workplace. This glimpse of the environment, the people, and the activities there gives students a sense of workplace etiquette and an opportunity to get a broader understanding of the organization and the career sector.
Master Class Days
ArtWorks invites professionals from the creative, public/private business, and civic engagement sectors to come to JAMS and talk with high school students about their specific industries and professional career pathways. Master Class Professionals represent careers that are connected to JAMS creative and leadership-focused courses.
Jr. Program Assistants
The JAMS work-study, affectionally known as our Jr. Program Assistants (JPAs) initiative, aims to alleviate the financial burdens students from low-to-moderate-income households face by providing essential support for their basic needs. Those attending high school or receiving post-secondary education can receive monthly stipends for working alongside staff to carry out arts-related programming and administrative tasks.
Continued Education Scholarships
Students who graduate high school as participants of the ArtWorks program receive a coveted JAMS Challenge Coin, solidifying their alum status and belonging to a lifelong support network. Stakeholders also receive these coins to symbolize their willful acceptance of the challenge to empower the next generation of innovative leaders. ArtWorks Continuing Education Grants provide an avenue for our supporters to further aid students in their academic endeavors. These scholarships help remove obstacles that often prevent students from achieving beyond high school.
Grants and Scholarships
Completion Grant
A Completion Grant is available for JAMS alumni enrolled in college or trade school who are on track to graduate. The grant helps cover outstanding balances like tuition and unpaid fees. We assess students in need and provide awards of up to $2,500 annually. Students must remain in good standing and apply each year.
Travel Grant
Aid is provided to JAMS alum to address holiday, spring, and summer break travel expenses and emergency travel relating to severe weather, personal or family illness, or death. The Travel Grant covers vehicle rental, train, bus, or flight ticket costs, lodging, and food expenses. We assess students in need and provide awards of up to $1,500 annually. Students in good standing may apply once each calendar year.
Challenge Accepted Scholarship
The Challenge Accepted Scholarship is a unique opportunity for stakeholders to fund a specific JAMS alumni's education in part or in full. In this instance, stakeholders can identify a particular degree of study, college, or technical certification they wish to sponsor. Eligible recipients (Alumni coin holders) pursuing any of the agreed-upon degrees, colleges, or trades may apply for the funding. Applications are evaluated and selected annually by an internal panel of members from our four Program Advisor Committees.
"If necessity is the mother of invention, then creativity is the tool for a new discovery. By promoting creativity JAMS fosters the development of young minds into the genius that will enrich lives the world over."
– Ronnie Ferguson, Former Deputy Mayor, City of Jacksonville
David C. Miller Family Fund
