Mayor and Superintendent Join JAG CT in Thanking AT&T

HARTFORD — Mayor Luke Bronin and Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez joined JAG CT students, Hartford Public High School staff, and others Monday to thank AT&T Connecticut President John Emra for AT&T’s support in expanding JAG into Hartford.

“I am grateful that I have been part of the JAG program,” said Jennifer Candelora, who is enrolled in JAG at Hartford Public High School, and was part of JAG at East Hartford High School before transferring to HPHS. “Since I joined I have been prepared to leave high school with great background knowledge on how to pursue my future career goals. JAG is a sense of hope for people who have no hope. I would recommend this program to all high school seniors.”

“Your support for this program will go a long way to making sure we can be there for students who need it the most,” said Mayor Luke Bronin. “This is exactly the kind of partnership we need to make sure we are preparing students for a successful career and future.”

“Partnerships like these are key to establish strong connections between our schools and their surrounding business community,” said Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez. “Hartford Public Schools thanks AT&T for making this important contribution. We hope that this new program will improve our rising rates of success for at-risk youth.” 

“We are encouraged by the recent news that for the first time we are on a path to reach a 90 percent national graduation rate by 2020, but we also know there is more work to be done,” said John Emra, President of AT&T Connecticut. “Bringing to scale programs like JAG that are making a measurable impact on the students that need it most is one of the key ways we can stay on track to meet our graduation goal and prepare more students for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Martin Estey, Executive Director of the Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, and Marco Tirillo, Assistant Principal at Hartford Public High School, were also in attendance.

Since 2008, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have provided more than $6 million in funding to JAG and its local affiliates. This support is part of AT&T Aspire, AT&T’s $350 million signature education initiative that drives innovation in education to promote student success in school and beyond.