Baldacci promoting dropout prevention

WASHINGTON – Gov. John Baldacci brought snowfall to the nation’s capital on Wednesday. He braved the flurries, the city’s first of the season, to meet with Maine’s congressional delegation and with board members of the Jobs for America’s Graduates program.

For more than a year, Baldacci has served as the chairman of the program’s national board of directors. The mission of Jobs for America’s Graduates is dropout prevention.

“We need to touch every child’s life so that they have the positive, almost mentoring, support to know that they are valued and that people are listening to them so they feel important,” Baldacci said in an interview Wednesday. The program “does that more than anybody else. It empowers them and it lets them know they are important and that someone cares about them.”

The Jobs for America’s Graduates program began 27 years ago, according to Barbara Wolf, its vice president. Maine is one of 28 states that participate nationwide.

“Maine has more than 2,500 students enrolled [in the program] in more than 50 schools statewide,” Wolf said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Nationally, more than 40,000 students are enrolled in the Jobs for America’s Graduates programs. In 2006, 94 percent of our seniors graduated, compared to the national average of 68 percent.”

The Maine branch of the organization is called Jobs for Maine Graduates.

The program in Maine costs about $1,300 per student and is funded through a combination of state support, private business donations and foundations.

Maureen Duggan, communications director for the Maine branch, said the Legislature established the program in 1993 and more than 20,000 students have graduated since then.

“Students are recommended to the program by teachers, parents or even themselves,” Duggan said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “A board made up of Jobs for Maine’s Graduates staff members and school administrators then decide which students they think are most at-risk to drop out.”

Maine boasts a 96 percent graduation rate from the program, she said, compared to an 85 percent graduation rate for students not participating in the program.

“The program promotes staying in school and prepares the students for whatever comes next, whether it is furthering their education or getting a job,” Duggan said. “Specialists work with an average of 35 to 45 students a day, in class sizes that average seven to 12 students. The instructors follow up with the students who have graduated for one additional year to help them continue to succeed.”

Baldacci said his enthusiastic support for the program was prompted by his seeing it in action.

“Years ago, when I saw one of the classes, the students were actually enthusiastic about being in school,” he said. “I’ve been around school long enough to know that sometimes it’s not the place where kids are most enthusiastic. I thought to myself, ‘That’s what this is all about. It’s about giving an option to students.'”

Baldacci said the national organization meets annually to hold a dinner, present awards and discuss strategy.

“Believe me, I am busy enough as governor,” he said. “But you know the impact the program has on kids. So we go to the Hill, meet with members of Congress and tell them what the program is about.”

Baldacci said Maine successfully adopted the high school model for middle schools. The middle school program has been so successful that other states have come to Maine to learn how to apply it.

Baldacci said the main reason the program is successful is the people involved.

“They are saints,” he said. “They connect with people. They love every single minute of it where they are turning a light on instead of cursing the darkness. We need to get more kids who are slipping through the cracks to try this as an option.”