On a hot summer afternoon in Tucson, Arizona, I decided to take a walk, visiting young people I care a lot about but don’t know. I didn’t walk alone, instead joining a group of remarkable community leaders. The heat didn’t bother us, nor did it stop us. We were walking with a purpose.
Sheriff Chris Nanos, local pastor Grady Scott, and Tucson Unified School District dropout prevention specialist Lisa Gonzales walked with Abel Morado and me, knocking on the doors of students who have already left school or are at significant risk of dropping out. Our task was simple: Encourage them to re-enroll.
In four hours, community volunteers and district staff visited nearly 200 homes and made contact with 118 students and/or family members. Seventy community volunteers participated, and when you add district staff to the equation, a total of 130 caring adults set out to show young people that they matter.
Tucson leaders started Steps to Success in 2014. So far, they’ve reenrolled 384 students; 64 have already graduated and many more are still in school. John Kramkowski, who works on dropout prevention efforts for TUSD, said the retention rate for students who reenroll is about 84 percent.
With help from America’s Promise Alliance, Pearson and GradNation State Activation initiative, WestEd is supporting other Arizona cities that want to replicate this promising program. Phoenix will launch a pilot soon, and a handful of other cities participating in the Arizona Mayors Education Roundtable have expressed interest in joining.
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