GMG’s iJAG Business Plan team pictured at Iowa’s State Career Development Conference Thursday, March 26, in Des Moines after taking first in their respective competition, thereby earning a trip to the national competition set for later this month in Salt Lake City, Utah. From left, iJAG board member Sarah Richardson; iJAG CEO and President Dr. Wendy Mihm-Herold; GMG students Gracie Deal, Liam Fitzsimmons, Jayden Beichley, and Tavin Coleman; Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate; and iJAG Vice President Allyson Vukovich. PHOTO COURTESY OF iJAG/FACEBOOK

DES MOINES – Nationals, here they come!

More than 400 high school students from across Iowa along with nearly 40 employers participated in the annual State Career Development Conference (CDC) Thursday, March 26, in Des Moines, including a record number of GMG iJAG (Iowa’s Jobs for America’s Graduates) students from which two teams earned first-place finishes in student competitions and will now advance to the JAG National Career Development Conference (NCDC) set for April 30-May 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

GMG iJAG students competing in the Business Plan competition and in the Project Based Learning Showcase both earned an all-expenses-paid trip to the national JAG competition for their efforts.

GMG’s Business Plan team includes Tavin Coleman, Gracie Deal, Liam Fitzsimmons, and Jayden Beichley. As part of the competition, teams are required to develop and present strategies to solve a problem for a fictional or nonfictional company.

The district’s Project Based Learning Showcase team includes Jocie Parks, Drayson Stephenson, Ethan Klemesrud, and Caleb Ferch. As part of the PBL competition, teams design solutions to real-world problems and then present those solution(s) to a panel of judges.

GMG’s iJAG Project Based Learning Showcase team pictured at Iowa’s State Career Development Conference Thursday, March 26, in Des Moines after taking first in their respective competition, thereby earning a trip to the national competition set for later this month in Salt Lake City, Utah. From left, iJAG board member Sarah Richardson; iJAG CEO and President Dr. Wendy Mihm-Herold; GMG students Drayson Stephenson, Ethan Klemesrud, Caleb Ferch, and Jocie Parks; Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate; and iJAG Vice President Allyson Vukovich. PHOTO COURTESY OF iJAG/FACEBOOK

At NCDC, teams will compete in their respective categories while also networking with national employers, attending skill-development workshops, and participating in leadership activities

Per iJAG, only about 300 of JAG’s 65,000 students attend NCDC annually.

GMG’s Promo Video team (Aubrey Zitzow, Brynn White, Delaney McCubbin, Brooke Thomas) also earned first place at CDC this year, while the district’s Creative Decision Making team (Summer Witte, Emrie Sager, Victoria Dingman, Brynn White) earned a second-place finish. The Promo Video competition was a new category this year with the winning video package only (no students) being sent to the national competition.

Fourth-place finishes were earned by Landon Blamer for Financial Budget and Colton Hauser for Career Preparation.

The 2026 CDC was presented again this year by The Wellmark Foundation and hosted by iJAG at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The conference included employer-led workshops, networking opportunities, a career fair, and competitions for students grades 11-12 from 67 different iJAG programs.

GMG’s iJAG program is led by Facilitator Brittany Raymond.

About iJAG

iJAG is a statewide nonprofit 501c3 organization that partners with Iowa schools to deliver in-school career development programming including leadership development, skill-building, employer engagement, and work-based learning.