Atlanta Dropout Prevention Summit
Convener:
Estimated Attendance:
Date: October 2010
The Atlanta Urban League will collaborate with a group of local drop out prevention stakeholders to host an InsideOut Drop Out Prevention Summit and Bus Tour that will include an Assembly and Youth Speak Out (Tour). The Summit will take place over one week with The Choice Bus making stops at a total of 10 schools with high drop out rates located in the City of Atlanta and/or the metro Atlanta community. Two schools will be visited each day. We anticipate reaching a minimum of 1,500-2000 students who are at risk of dropping out of school.
This Dropout Prevention Summit will focus on reaching youth who are at risk of dropping out of school to:
1) expose them to “an emotionally gripping documentary that exposes the real story about the devastating and lasting effects of dropping out of high school told by those who live the consequences every day: prison inmates” developed by the Mattie Stewart Foundation;
2) give high school students that attend schools with drop out rates above 30% an opportunity to “Speak Out” about why youth are dropping out of school and what they recommend can be done to prevent students from dropping out of school in the future;
3) take a tour of The Choice Bus that was created as a tool by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation to extend the learning experience of the InsideOut documentary, outside the classroom to help reinforce the message of staying in school. This experience based learning tool contains an assimilated “real jail” at the back of the bus and the front of the bus is an interactive learning environment that engages youth to see the value of an education and staying in school.
In addition to making an impact on 1,500-2,000 students with “stay in school” messaging and interactive experiences that may have a lasting impact on their education/school choices, the summit will document (by professional transcribers) the voices of at risk students at 10 schools located throughout the metro Atlanta area relative to their views and perspectives as to why youth drop out of school and what can be done to keep them in and bring them back to school. This vital and introspective information will be compiled, packaged and distributed to drop out prevention stakeholders located throughout the metro Atlanta area for use in advocacy and legislative work to direct policy and initiatives locally to directly and positively impact the drop out rate.
Location: 10 High Schools with the highest drop out rates in metro Atlanta
Contact:
Nancy Flakes Johnson
President
Atlanta Urban League
100 Edgewood Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30310
Phone: 404-659-1150
Email:
njohnson@atlul.org