"Graduation Matters Missoula" campaign kicks off Play Video
Posted: Jan 19, 2010 6:33 PM
Updated: Jan 20, 2010 12:02 PM
Missoula County educators have officially launched a effort to encourage students to stay in school through graduation.
Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Alex Apostle says about 20% of Missoula students don't graduate from high school. But he says with all the talk this year about the "Graduation Matters Missoula" campaign, he's seeing a decrease in drop-out rates.
"Graduation Matters! Once more Graduation Matters!" said University of Montana President George Dennison.
That's one of the messages educators want to get across when it comes to the success of many students in Missoula County who may be thinking about dropping out of school.
"Our goal in this district is to get to 100% graduation. And some people may think that's idealistic, I don't. I believe when students come to school they should expect that they're going to succeed and it's our responsibility as educators to make that happen," explained Apostle. 
"Sure tests are hard and stuff gets stressful, but I mean I would get so bored that I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't stay in school to be honest," added Hellgate High sophomore, Eric Willis.
Educators say last year 3,000 students dropped out of school across the state. And 171 of last year's Missoula seniors did not graduate from high school.
"The most important thing that we can do as a school district is make sure that we hang onto every single student. When a teacher mentions that a student's struggling, when a counselor learns that there are some difficulty in the student's life that make going to school hard for him or for her, we need to make sure that we move into action," said MCPS Board of Trustees Chair, Toni Rehbein.
"Partnering with businesses in our community, partnering with the university to make school more challenging, more interesting, less boring and of course overall to make it more meaningful and that's what I think our schools are lacking. We need to change the picture, we need to change the way we teach, the way we learn and we're heading in that direction in our school system," Apostle said.
Educators say they will do everything in their power to help students get their diplomas. And they say once these students graduate the sky is the limit.
"I John Engen, Mayor of the City of Missoula in the State of Montana do hereby proclaim January 19th 2010 as Graduation Matters Missoula Day," proclaimed Missoula Mayor John Engen.
