The Stay in School rally at Springfield's Putnam Vocational Academy will include a motivational speaker and instructions for public participation.
SPRINGFIELD – A community rally is scheduled Monday at Putnam Vocational Technical Academy on State Street, aimed at encouraging students citywide to stay in school and graduate.
The “Stay in School” rally is scheduled to be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Putnam school, 1300 State St., and occurs after an improvement in the graduation rate in Springfield, organizers said.
Sue Fothergill, executive director of educationRISING LLC, and coordinator of the Baltimore City Student Attendance Work Group, will give a presentation about her experience as an advocate for education and student attendance.
The “Stay in School’ community initiative was launched in March by the Springfield Public Schools, and is a campaign aimed at motivating students, parents, local business and community leaders, and school administrators to place a greater importance on attendance.
Research shows that daily attendance “leads to high school graduation and offers a pathway to life success,” the Stay in School initiative stated in a prepared statement. In addition, high school graduates are more likely to avoid negative behaviors, have higher incomes and live longer healthier lives,” the release stated
The rally “will celebrate community and business partnerships made around the Stay in School initiative and will share the roadmap for increasing school attendance in Springfield Public Schools, according to Stay in Springfield.
The four-year graduation rate in Springfield rose from 52.1 percent in 2011 to 56.6 percent in 2012.
The goal of the Stay in School initiative is to increase the graduation rate to 77.4 percent by 2015.
During Monday’s rally, representatives of the initiative will also share ways for the public to get involved, the group stated. Stay in School tool kits will be available to participating community organizations at the rally.