Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Taco Bell Foundation for Teens Host Town Hall to Address High School Dropout Crisis

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), along with sponsor Taco Bell Foundation for Teens (TBFT), will host a teen town hall addressing the nation’s high school dropout crisis.  Currently, more than 30 percent of teens in the U.S. do not graduate from high school.

The program will feature a panel of top national education experts, along with teens and community leaders from across the country, who will discuss a new survey that reveals what teens think about the dropout crisis, the obstacles teens face today in graduating from high school, the impact of President Obama’s election, and even what teens hope to be earning in ten years.

When: Thursday, April 2, 2009
Where: Hyatt Regency Atlanta
Moderator: Carl Azuz, Anchor/Reporter, CNN Student News

Panelists:

• Andrew Young, former Mayor Atlanta, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., founder, Andrew Young Foundation

• Bob Wise, former Governor of West Virginia and President, Alliance for Excellent Education

• Ron Fairchild, Executive Director, National Center for Summer Learning, Johns Hopkins University

• Judith J. Pickens, Senior Vice President,  Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Youth Panelists:

• Shonetta Henry, 2008-09 National Youth of the Year

• Winnie Phan, BGC San Francisco, Keystone Conference Steering Committee

• BGC of Metro Atlanta, Brookhaven Club member

• BGC member, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland

Teen Graduation Statistics:

• Nearly one-third of all public high school students—and nearly one half of all African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans—fail to graduate from public high school with their class.

• Dropouts earn $9,200 less per year than high school graduates and more than $1 million less over a lifetime than college graduates.

• More than 80 percent said their chances of staying in school would have increased if classes were more interesting and provided opportunities for real-world learning.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA)
BGCA, the nation’s fastest-growing youth service organization, has made the high school dropout issue a top priority for 2009 with its new “BE GREAT – Graduate” initiative.  With dropout rates now at crisis levels, BGCA has developed a comprehensive strategy – “Every Member, Every Year” -- to ensure every member served by the more than 4,300 Clubs graduates from high school on time.

About Taco Bell Foundation for Teens
Taco Bell Foundation for Teens (TBFT), a non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, is committed to addressing the growing number of high school dropouts in the U.S. by providing at-risk youth with mentors and real-world experiences that will motivate them to stay in school and achieve more in life. Since 1995, TBFT has donated more than $23 million to support teen programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of America with the help of on-going customer, franchisee and employee donations.