For more information, contact:
Lisa Goss, Communications Specialist, 216/916-6134
October 6, 2015 - (Cleveland, OH) - WVIZ/PBS ideastream® is partnering with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s “Get to School! You Can Make It” attendance campaign to help improve attendance in Cleveland schools by promoting the American Graduate Storytelling contest.
WVIZ/PBS is one of 33 stations across the country involved in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Graduate program. The storytelling contest is an initiative designed for students who are succeeding in high school, but would have dropped out due to a personal challenge were it not for someone—a Champion—who stepped in to support them.
As part of the program, ideastream is asking CMSD students to share their stories and identify their Champions in a number of ways, including:
- Writing a story
- Producing a video
- Recording an audio story
- Creating an original work of art
- Recording a dance
The CMSD “Get to School! You Can Make It” campaign is in place to minimize absences and encourage students and families to be accountable for their school attendance. Reducing absenteeism now makes a difference later: According to CMSD statistics, students who miss more than 10 days of school score lower on state reading and math tests and are 34 percent less likely to graduate on track.
“Our key goal, improving student attendance, leads to fewer high school dropouts, a key goal of the American Graduate program,” said CMSD CEO Eric Gordon. “We are thrilled to be partnering with ideastream to help share the success stories of Cleveland’s students.”
This current project is the latest example of ideastream and CMSD collaborating to actively encourage and support student success.
“We are happy to continue the long-standing partnership between ideastream and CMSD, especially when we can join efforts to help students see the value in attending school and assist them in working toward high school graduation and college and/or careers,” explained ideastream President and CEO Jerry Wareham.
The contest, which began Oct. 1 and ends Nov. 30, is open to all CMSD high school students. A town hall forum celebrating the contest’s winners and their champions will take place on Jan. 20, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. at ideastream’s Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre at the Idea Center® at Playhouse Square and will serve as the culminating activity for the contest.
For more information on ideastream’s American Graduate Storytelling contest and guidelines, please visit ideastream.org/programs/american-graduate/american-graduate-storytelling-contest.
For more information on CMSD’s “Get to School! You Can Make it” attendance campaign, visit www.get2schoolcleveland.com.
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