From its very beginning, Open Meadow has played a critical role in Connected by 25, a city-wide initiative designed to engage disconnected youth in careers, college, and community by age 25.  The article below by the Mayor and a board member from Connected by 25 highlights the importance and stepped-up urgency of the initiative.  Open Meadow continues to expand its STEP UP program that provides essential transition support for public middle school students in need of additional attention as they enter high school.  Get connected to STEP UP and Connected by 25!

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Changing the story of our dropout rate
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Oregonian
Now what?
We’re betting that was the logical question most readers asked after digesting The Oregonian’s recent articles about the sharp spike in high school dropouts and our bottom-five national ranking for high school completion.

According to the Oregon Department of Education, 19 percent of Oregon high school students call it quits before graduating. The problem is even worse in Portland, where barely half of our teens graduate on time.

That’s not news. We’ve talked about a similar number for more than a year. The bottom line is that too many of our city’s teens and young adults are not ready to succeed. More than 8,000 of these young people are neither in school nor employed.

This is a serious problem that affects us all. We see it in poor educational achievement, work force quality and crime, unemployment and poverty rates.

What is news is how we all can change this story. We think we have a viable solution. It’s called Connected by 25.
Connected by 25 is an effort to harness Portland’s extraordinary civic energy and connect every young person to school, work and community by the age of 25.

Connected by 25 research shows that academic indicators can predict which students are most likely to drop out as early as ninth grade. Because dropping out of school is a slow process of disengagement for most students, these indicators are powerful tools.

The transition from eighth to ninth grade—especially the summer months—is a pivotal time for these students. That is why “Ninth Grade Counts” is the first initiative to come out of Connected by 25. Starting in June, Ninth Grade Counts will deliver a citywide network of adult advocates and summer programs to give incoming ninth-graders the support they need to stay on track toward becoming confident and productive adults.

But the job is too big for any one group to take on alone. Nearly 50 Portland businesses, foundations, nonprofits and government agencies—including Portland Public Schools and other Portland school districts—are stepping up to change the lives of thousands of young Portlanders and put them on a path to success. They are delivering time, money, program resources and creative vision to make this possible.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust are funding this effort because of the promising work that’s already happening in many Portland neighborhoods.

Young people thrive when they’re connected to work, school and their community. It boils down to opportunity and access, which is increasingly scarce for kids of color, kids who are poor and kids who are new to this country.

Portland needs more culturally specific services and resources to address the growing inequities and put all young people on a path to success in adulthood. This isn’t a political imperative. It’s a moral, economic and civic imperative.

Change doesn’t come from the top down. It comes from the bottom up. Together we have a chance to make Portland a national leader in providing what all communities can—and should—for young people.

Tom Potter is mayor of Portland. Steve Hawke is a senior vice president at Portland General Electric. Join the coalition online at ConnectedBy25.org.