How To Attain a 100% Graduation Rate

Red-Lake-Nation-100-Percent-Graduation

In June of 2017, the Red Lake Tribal Council passed a resolution in support of a 100% graduation rate for its young people who reside on and off the reservation. (The Red Lake Reservation is in northern Minnesota and is home to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa.) Like most Native American communities in Minnesota, and the United States, the gap between the percentage of Native students who stay in school and their white counter parts is unacceptable. In fact, the graduation gap between white students and students of other ethnicities, is also unacceptable.

After 200 years of trying to fix the “problem,” the gap continues with some improvements during some years, and setbacks in other years. What has not been done to erase the gap is to solicit the support of the total community to help schools make the 100% goal a reality.

Following the lead of the Red Lake Nation

Community-Partnetship

All communities in Beltrami County (home of the Red Lake Nation) have committed themselves to a 100% graduation goal. This includes all city councils and county commissioners. At the time of this writing over 375 businesses and organizations stand with this goal of encouraging 100% of its youth to graduate.

How is this done?
When all young people have a mindset to graduate, 100% of our youth will graduate. We do this primarily by spreading the word relentlessly to young people that they need to graduate.

375 Committed Businesses

Have we reached our goal?

Never-Give-Up-About-John-Eggers

Not yet, but we will. How can we be so confident? Because you and I graduated by merely having someone put in our brain a mindset to graduate. We all need to work together to help youth have a like mindset.

Why not have a graduation rate goal of 100% for all of Minnesota?

Why not all fifty of the states? 

What we can do to help graduate 100% of our youth

Practical things YOU can do to help 100% of our youth graduate.

  1. Believe that they can graduate and instill this belief in young people.
  2. Talk to them about the need to graduate and the benefits that come from having a high school diploma.
  3. Ensure they attend school.
  4. Select the school that best fits how they learn.
  5. If they need help in school, insist they get it.
  6. Relentlessly remind young people that their number one goal is to graduate from high school.

Practical things for BUSINESS LEADERS to do in the community to help children graduate.

  1. Remind all employees to help 100% of our youth graduate.
  2. Put flyers on your counter that remind customers of what they can do to help youth graduate.
  3. Remind young people how important it is to graduate.
  4. Remember that when we have a more educated society, we have a healthier and more productive society.
  5. Go the extra mile and do something to spread the word about 100%.
  6. Encourage other businesses to join the movement.

Practical things to do IN THE HOME to help children graduate.

  1. Read to your children and/or have plenty of books around.
  2. Encourage your children to get involved in school activities.
  3. Find your high school diploma and display it some place in the home. If you do not have one, make a diploma for your children that shows the year they will graduate.
  4. Do things together as a family.
  5. Turn off the TV or computer.
  6. Eat together.
  7. Have limits at home because schools have limits.
  8. Make sure they get at least 8 hours of sleep every day.

Practical things EDUCATORS can do to help 100% of our youth graduate.

  1. Make your school graduation goal 100%.
  2. Teachers need to consistently and relentlessly remind students that their number one goal is to graduate from high school.
  3. Remember that every teacher has the responsibility of graduating 100% of the students.
  4. Do your best to encourage parents to get involved in school. Give them specific things they can do.
  5. Look for educational alternatives for students who are losing interest and may drop out. Ask your school leaders to help.
  6. Believe you can make a difference by relentlessly working towards a 100% goal.

What are the benefits when 100% of our students have their high school diploma?

Invest In The Future

The benefits of having a high school diploma are a matter of common sense but a high school diploma is especially important today as our work force gets more sophisticated and the need for specialized skills become more important. A high school diploma is merely a first step but a necessary step. There are numerous studies that show the many benefits of having a high school diploma regardless of where you live.

  1. Become the first county to have a 100% graduation rate for all students of all ethnicities, which would serve as a model for other communities and counties.
  2. Fewer young people would be on drugs. 
  3. More people would enter college or some form of higher learning.
  4. More people would earn more money thereby increasing tax revenues.
  5. More people would have better health.
  6. More people would have better mental health.
  7. More people would be available to solve our local and global issues. 
  8. More revenue for schools and colleges.
  9. More people would have children who would graduate from high school.
  10. Fewer people would live in poverty. 
  11. Fewer jails would be needed.
  12. Fewer educational and economic disparities would exist between whites and other ethnic groups.
  13. More people would vote. 
  14. We would be closer to world peace. 
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