Public Service Announcements
Public service announcements are available to support the emerging “Graduation Matters in Missouri ” campaign.
Southwest Missouri Observes"Graduation Matters Week"
School districts across southwest Missouri joined together to designate the week of November 15-21 as "Graduation Matters Week." Schools, chambers, businesses, parent-teacher organizations and others are working together to spread the word regionally and to begin the process of changing the dropout culture through public service announcements, news releases, publications, websites, marquees, envelope stuffers, and more.
- Joplin Public Schools News Release (pdf)
- Powerpoint presentation (pdf) (ppt)
- 6-up bank envelope stuffers (pdf)
- News story: The Joplin Globe (11/16/09)
- News story: The Carthage Press (11/17/09)
- News story: Missourinet (11/19/09)
Communities, State Adopt Rally Cry to Boost Student Graduation
“Graduation Matters in Missouri” is the new slogan, released at the 2009 Missouri Dropout Prevention Summit, to emphasize the importance of high school graduation at a time when the state’s dropout rate has been creeping upward.
Southwest Area School Districts Tackle Dropout Issue
Last spring, Carthage, Joplin, Carl Junction and Webb City school district superintendents began meeting to discuss their shared concern about the number of students in southwest Missouri who leave school without obtaining a high school diploma. They held a regional dropout prevention news conference, Aug. 13, to increase awareness of the issue and to begin the building of joint consensus that high school graduation matters to all communities in our state and nation. They had a tremendous turnout and media coverage.
- Southwest Missouri school districts discuss dropout rates (The Joplin Globe)
- Editorial: Turn slogan into reality (The Joplin Globe)
- Webb City School District opening day slides (pdf) shared with staff and community/parent guests
