Graduate Pittsburgh Summit 2010 - Youth Voices

The Graduate Pittsburgh 2010 Summit was held on November 4, 2010 & drew an exciting cross-disciplinary audience of educators, youth advocates, students, parents, government, business, & community leaders. This video directed by Emmai Alaquiva, was produced for the Summit to tell the story of the many youth who struggle on the path to high school graduation.

Graduate Pittsburgh 2010 was a summit promoting action against the dropout epidemic in Pittsburgh as the problem has now reached crisis level. Today in Pittsburgh and across the country, the drop-out rate from high school averages 35%, with this figure increasing to over 50% for African American boys. The 2010 Summit was held on November 4 at the August Wilson Center and included a wonderful mix of participants - educators, youth advocates, business people, community leaders, parents, and students. Horacio Sanchez, a renowned expert in the field of working with vulnerable youth, delivered an inspirational and interactive keynote address, arming summit participants with the knowledge and specific guidance they need to tackle the dropout crisis one student at a time.

Students played a huge role in the success of this year's Graduate Pittsburgh Summit. "Youth Voices" tells the stories of four young people who have been struggling in their journey through school and who are at different places on their path to success; what they all have in common is that they are fighting to not become a statistic. "Youth Voices" also includes messages from heroic youth advocates Esther Bush and Saleem Ghubril, whose wisdom confirms that we must take action, not only for the future of our children but for the future of Pittsburgh. For more information on the dropout crisis please visit www.cispac.org. For more information on how you can become part of the solution please contact Communities In Schools of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County by emailing cis@cispac.org.

Credits:

Featuring:
Students: Drake, Brandon, Shreen, and Taraun. 
Youth Advocates:
Esther Bush -President and CEO, Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh
Saleem Ghubril  -Executive Director, The Pittsburgh Promise
Written by Nina Markoff, Communities In Schools 

Many thanks to:
The Graduate Pittsburgh Committee.
Graduate Pittsburgh Chair, Nicole Molinaro, Communities In Schools
Graduate Pittsburgh Co-Chairs, Sabrina Saunders and Steven Zumbrun, Office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
Wendi Caldwell, Academy Director, Communities In Schools -- Academy-South
Teachers, Staff, and Students at the Communities In Schools -- Academy-South
Emmai's people!!!!!

Data and statistics provided by:

The American Youth Policy Forum
Rand Corporation, "Estimating Graduation and Dropout Rates with Longitudinal Data. A Case Study in the Pittsburgh Public Schools"

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

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• Graduate Pittsburgh Summit
• Esther Bush
• Saleem Ghubril
• Sabrina Sauders
• Communities In Schools
• Nicole Molinaro
• Emmai Alaquiva
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