Friday, May 27, 2016
Hail to the thousands of college students and high school seniors in the Mahoning Valley who are proudly walking across stages this spring to rightfully collect their reward for years of dutiful attendance, responsible conduct and academic growth.
Over the next two weeks, students from dozens of high schools in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties will march proudly into their futures.
We congratulate all the graduates as well as their supportive parents, teachers and other mentors and motivators. Again this year, The Vindicator is recognizing these milestones by providing extensive coverage of most high-school commencements in the region and by publishing lists of all grads from dozens of high schools from June 6 through June 11.
Several Valley high schools and, more importantly, the students who populate them stand out this year. Some have singled themselves out for superlative academic standings. Others have made an impact in helping their students overcome a wide spectrum of challenges.
GOLD STAR FOR MAHONING CO. HIGH
In that latter category, the Mahoning County High School earns a gold star. Thirty-one members of its Class of 2016 collected their coveted diplomas last week.
The school, a dropout recovery community school sponsored by Mahoning County Educational Service Center and the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center, serves at-risk students who have struggled in a traditional school setting, been expelled, dropped out of high school or have had juvenile court involvement.
Teachers and administrators there are to be credited for standing up to meet and beat those challenges by monitoring students’ academics and attitudes closely to lead them toward paths of progress, not destruction.
Progress toward stellar academic achievement has been the watchword at other public high schools in the region. Just last month, U.S. News and World Report singled out six Valley secondary schools – Columbiana, Canfield, Boardman, Hubbard, Struthers and Springfield – and awarded them silver awards for inclusion among an elite group of the nation’s most academically successful high schools.
YEC grads continue to shine
Success is no stranger as well to Youngstown Early College, the pride of the Youngstown City School District. Its students and graduates continue to dispel the myth that successful education cannot occur in any of the hallways of the fiscally and academically challenged urban school district.
The latest example of YEC’s achievement can be found in its ranking among Ohio’s urban high schools by four-year graduation rate. YEC’s is 100 percent, putting it at the top of the list compiled by the respected Fordham Institute. Dozens of inner-city youth recently received diplomas, but many of them also simultaneously received associate degress from Youngstown State University.
YEC’s astonishingly high graduation rate serves as a reminder of the urgency to increase the shamefully low rates in secondary schools across the U.S.
President Barack Obama recognizes that urgency in challenging the American educational system to strive toward achieving a 90-percent graduation rate by the end of this decade.
Students indeed sacrifice many personal and societal benefits when opting out of attaining that one valuable piece of paper. According to the U.S. Department of Education, a high-school diploma recipient without a college degree:
Earns an average of $8,400 a year more than a high school dropout.
Contributes more to a state’s economy and requires less public assistance than high school dropouts.
Becomes substantially less likely to be imprisoned or require public assistance.
In the Mahoning Valley, graduation rates show significant disparities. According to the Ohio Department of Education Report Cards, some such as Poland schools hover near perfection – already far surpassing our president’s goal. But in nearby Youngstown, the rate of 68 percent is distressingly low.
When schools, families and communities work together toward a common goal of educational excellence, our community, state and nation can more confidently entrust the future to those who proudly earn their ticket out of public schooling this and every spring.