High school dropouts, is the issue truly an epidemic?

The high school dropout issue is more than just an issue; it is an epidemic of mass proportions. Our museum project focused on the effects that dropping out of high school has not only on the individual but also on the community.  There is an article published by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change - http://www.pew-partnership.org/pdf/dropout_overview.pdf - that pretty much sums up the issue at hand. Most of the facts that we used for our project and most of the additional points we researched originated from this article.

            The most astonishing thing for me throughout this whole process was the sheer numbers of dropouts every day and why some of them leave. In San Antonio alone a student drops out of school every 4 minutes. It is even worse for the nation; one student every 25 seconds. The nation loses about 7,000 students a day from grades 9th thru 12th. In total, as a nation, over 1 million children dropout of school every year. Think about that….. 1 million plus!!!

            It is hard for me to understand how we could have such a problem and never hear about it. I know the “No Child Left Behind Act” was put in place to prevent such horrible numbers, but another report I reviewed showed that the dropout rates are worse then they were in the 90s. How as a nation could we let this happen?

            In completing my service hours I met students who had originally dropped out of school but were now attempting to finish through programs at an organization called SA Youth. SA Youth has a dropout prevention program for children in grades below 9th but also has high school diploma and GED programs for students between the ages of 16 and 25. I also met students that had completed the program and were now giving back to the organization by volunteering their time. It was very rewarding.

            Our museum piece was my favorite part of this whole process. The reason I say that is because I know for a fact that we touched the hearts and minds of many. We had to reprint our brochure 2 additional times, giving out a total somewhere over 120.  Even if we truly reached just one person that would be willing to volunteer their time or money to one of the organizations we listed, then we accomplished our mission. Please take the time to read the attached article. It will give you a greater understanding of our issue and why we as a community need to take action.