Newly Announced Grad Nation Campaign and CHOICES Opportunity
Dear Friends of CHOICES,
On Monday, March 1, 2010, President Obama announced a new 10-year dropout prevention campaign called "Grad Nation," a program of the America's Promise Alliance. He announced the campaign at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce along with Colin and Alma Powell, who lead America's Promise.
A 30-minute video of President Obama's speech (with introductory speeches by Colin and Alma Powell) is available for viewing on the White House web site. We encourage you to watch the video and download the transcript (there is a link on the site). Here's why...
The Dropout Problem
- 7,000 teens become high school dropouts every school day
- High correlation with being jobless, homeless & in prison
- Earn $260,000 less than H.S. graduates over lifetime
- Cost nation $209,000 each for healthcare, welfare and crime
- We incur $1.5 billion in future losses every school day
The CHOICES Response
Outputs:
- More than 6 million students served across U.S. and Canada over 25 years
- 132,210 students to be served during 2009-2010 academic year
- 1,400 presenters will deliver CHOICES this academic year
- 8,890 volunteer hours will be donated this academic year
- 183 clients will deliver CHOICES in 38 U.S. states and 3 Canadian provinces this academic year
Impacts:
- 88% approval rating from students
- 97% approval rating from teachers
- 9% increase in positive school engagement coincident with CHOICES
- 9% decreases in negative and non-engagement coincident with CHOICES
- Research shows link between positive engagement and on-time school completion
The National Connection
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CHOICES is a member of the America's Promise Alliance
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CHOICES has signed on to the Grad Nation campaign
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Grad Nation has set a goal to engage 100 business partners in the dropout
prevention fight
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Alma Powell's speech included comments about the importance of mentors, and that a proven way to keep kids in school is through career exploration programs (sound familiar?)
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The Grad Nation announcement was made at the US Chamber of Commerce, of which CHOICES is also a member
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CHOICES currently partners with 56 chambers in 21 states that will serve 27,840 students this school year
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(Although this announcement did not involve service clubs directly, we want you to know that CHOICES also currently partners with 34 service clubs in 15 states that will serve 18,450 students this school year)
The Opportunity and Challenge
This is a tremendous opportunity for all CHOICES stakeholders to align with this campaign and to enlist local and neighboring businesses, chambers, service clubs and schools to help fight the high school dropout epidemic.
Ask them to join the America’s Promise Alliance and sign on to the Grad Nation campaign. Then ask them help deliver CHOICES in your/their local schools, whether through dollars, volunteers or both (contact us to learn more). Next, ask them to help get the word out to everyone they know that will help. Finally, let us know what is happening in your community so we can share ideas and successes with this exciting initiative.
This is not a task for others to take on…it is ours to fulfill. As Alma also noted in her speech, when it comes to helping our children succeed, there is no “they;” there is only “us.” We invite you and your partners to join “us” in this cause.Thank you very much! |
