NORTH ANSON -- Shelby Atwood, a junior at Carrabec High School, heard from her upperclassmen friends that the Jobs for Maine's Graduates program was useful and fun. So she signed up.

Now the 16-year-old from Embden is the secretary of the program and intends to go to college to study the fine arts. In the Jobs for Maine's Graduates program, she has learned about personal financing, job skills and interview skills. She has had conversations about current events and has learned how the job and college applications process works, she said.

Seventy youth -- 23 percent of the student body -- at Carrabec High School are enrolled in the Jobs for Maine's Graduates program, which provides drop-out prevention and school-to-work transition services, in addition to students' regular classes. Recently, 45 of those students participated in the program's welcoming ceremony, the formal induction into the program.

More than 150 students, educators, family members and guests attended the event at the high school, which included a keynote address, speeches given by students and a dinner.

The goal of Jobs for Maine's Graduates, a private nonprofit established in 1993 by the Maine Legislature, is to provide students who are at risk of dropping out of school with the skills -- whether it's resumé writing or goal setting -- they need to graduate and be successful after graduation. It supplements students' education with real-world experience, allowing them to interact with businesses and community organizations, said Lisa Gardner, communications manager.

Approximately 25 percent of students in Maine who enter high school do not complete it in four years, Gardner said. About 86 percent of seniors in Maine graduate, she said, compared to 95 percent of students enrolled in the Jobs for Maine's Graduates program.

Chris Poulin has worked with the program since its introduction at the high school 11 years ago, and he said he has seen remarkable improvements.

"I've certainly seen huge growth in individual students -- their confidence, their ability to step forward," he said.

In addition to volunteering and developing contacts with the program's business partners, the students develop strategies for how to set goals and then meet those goals, he said.

"I never had this class myself....In my own experience, I dropped the ball a lot. I wish I had had someone at school to ask these questions to, so I wouldn't have made so many mistakes," Poulin said.

This year, Jobs for Maine's Graduates received a $200,000 grant from the Maine Department of Economic Development. The grant created new programs in Madison High School, Skowhegan High School and Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, and it added a program at Carrabec.

The grant is indicative of the needs of the area, Gardner said, "and we are truly hoping to meet those needs."

Last year, the students in the program at Carrabec High School volunteered nearly 1,600 hours in the community. They hosted two blood drives for the Red Cross and fundraised in order to buy gifts for elementary schoolchildren in need. Individual youth in the program also implemented their own projects, such as hosting an activity day for children or visiting the elderly at a nursing home.

"I think it's a really strong program," Atwood said. "We're coming up with new, creative ideas with how to get in contact with the community and help people who are less fortunate than others."

Jobs for Maine's Graduates has business partners that send representatives to the classroom to talk to students about careers available in particular industries, Gardner said. And, students job shadow employees. Some businesses include Cianbro Corporation, Unum, Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bangor Savings Bank and Skowhegan Savings Bank.

Gardner said, "Do we want 100 percent of our students to go to college? Yes. Is it going to happen? Probably not. But these students aren't graduating without a plan."

John Witherspoon, president and chief executive officer of Skowhegan Savings Bank, gave the keynote address at the Oct. 29 initiation and installation ceremony.

He spoke about the importance of education and of financial literacy for today's youth.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@mainetoday.com