American Graduate is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help local communities across America find solutions that address the dropout crisis. The initiative builds on public media’s long-standing commitment to education by convening conversations and strengthening partnerships between public radio and television stations and local schools, businesses and community organizations to help students stay on the path to a high school diploma. For more information about the national project go to American Graduate, Let’s Make It Happen.
KMOJ’s ROLE
KMOJ is using the power of radio to highlight effective strategies designed to reduce the high school drop- out rate AND increase the numbers of students who return to school after dropping out by:
- Increasing visibility and awareness within the African-American and the community at-large regarding the issue of school drop out
- Engaging the community in problem-solving dialogue to identify actions that help students go back and/or stay in school
- Talking with and highlighting the stories and advice of youth that tells us: what people in the community, organizations, and institutions can do to help youth go back to and/or stay in school.
NATIONAL FOCUS ON DROP-OUT RATE
Every year, more than 1.3-million students drop out of high school….that’s seven thousand kids a day who effectively close the door on the type of future we would wish for them. Reduced opportunity, low wages, increased risk of incarceration. That’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the costs of dropping out for the students – and for our society as a whole. Ask any student whether he or she expects to graduate from high school, and the vast majority – 92 percent – say yes. For many students, however, the reality is much different. Only seven in ten will actually finish high school, and for Hispanic, African-American and Native American students, that statistic drops to six in ten. This is an American tragedy, but a tragedy we can correct.
FUNDING KMOJ-FM is part of a nationwide effort by public radio and television stations, addressing local community interests and activities around high school graduation rates. American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to help local communities across the country address the dropout crisis. CPB, in partnership with America’s Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is working with public media stations in 20 “Hub Markets” where the dropout crisis is most acute to raise awareness of the issue and coordinate action with community partners — all with the goal of helping students stay on course to graduate from high school.
KMOJ is pleased to be a grantee of the American Graduate Initiative!
