CET, 9 on Your Side
Presents Cradle to Career
On-air program to examine region’s approach to improving graduation rates
One out of every four students in the Cincinnati region drops out of high school. Living without a diploma has dramatic, life-long impacts on the individual and our community, which is why more than 70 cross-sector organizations are partnering to help students stay on the path to graduation, starting in the earliest years. This innovative community-based approach recognizes that schools can’t do it alone, and that helping students succeed is in the interest of the entire community.
At 8pm Thursday, Feb. 28, CET and 9 on Your Side will present a special local production – Cradle to Career: Moving the Needle in Education – with co-hosts Kathrine Nero and Clyde Gray. This program explores our region’s cradle to career initiative, which has garnered national attention by bringing together leaders in business, education, community service and philanthropy to work toward common goals in education.
Cradle to Career: Moving the Needle in Education will look at key milestones along the path to student success and the high stakes for regional competiveness and economic growth. Interviews with community leaders will explore the critical role of early learning, new requirements for grade-level reading, the all-important transition to high school, and college and career readiness. Video reports will take us to classrooms and community programs, bringing us the voices of at-risk youth and educators.
“Making sure our area’s youth graduate from high school, and make a successful transition to college and a career, is an essential part of helping them start successful lives. It’s important that organizations like CET are involved,” said Gloria Skurski, Chief Content Officer for Public Media Connect – CET in Cincinnati and ThinkTV in Dayton.
The program’s guests include:
Greg Landsman, The Strive Partnership
Kathy Merchant, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Mary Ronan and Andrea Faulkner, Cincinnati Public Schools
Kathy Burkhardt and Polly Lusk Page, Northern Kentucky Education Council
Brent Cooper, C-Forward
Rick Hulefeld, Children Inc.
Stacie Strotman, Covington Partners
Lynda Jackson, Covington Independent Public Schools
O’dell Owens, Cincinnati State
Jane Keller, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
Toni Miles, YMCA’s Black and Latino Achievers
“As the largest school system in the region and the best-performing urban district in the state, Cincinnati Public Schools is proud to be at the forefront of the Cradle to Career initiative. The collective work of the partners is making a tremendous difference in the lives of our students, and ultimately will have a positive and lasting impact on our city and our region,” CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan said.
Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council Polly Lusk Page said partnerships and initiatives like Cradle to Career and American Graduate are important throughout Greater Cincinnati – not just north of the river.
“The Northern Kentucky Education Council is proud to support and partner with CET’s ‘American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen.’ Increasing awareness about the dropout crisis helps build support for our key initiatives that impact education outcomes,” Page said. “By participating in the ‘American Graduate’ broadcast series, we are able to highlight the critical importance of working collaboratively not only across the region, but also across the education pipeline, from birth to career. When we connect across the region we are able to implement strategies that cultivate both academic and life-long success for all children, youth and young adults in Northern Kentucky.”
Cradle to Career: Moving the Needle in Education also will air on both CET and 9 on Your Side’s digital channel 9.2 at 8pm Thursday, Feb. 28. The program will be re-broadcast at 1pm Sunday, March 3 on both digital channel 9.2 and ThinkTV14. We’ll also be live-streaming the broadcast on the www.cincy-americangraduate.org webpage during the Feb. 28th premiere.
Cradle to Career: Moving the Needle in Education is part of “American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen.” This national public media initiative, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, aims to help communities across America address the high school dropout crisis.
To learn about “American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen,” visit www.CETconnect.org/american-graduate or www.cincy-americangraduate.org.
About CET:
CET is Greater Cincinnati’s leading provider of education and enrichment in both living rooms and classrooms, reaching more than 2 million residents; 470,000 students and 37,000 teachers. Through PBS and local programming, CETconnect.org, innovative multimedia curriculum projects, parent workshops and professional development for teachers, CET positively impacts our community with rich and diverse resources. CET was the first licensed educational television station in the nation, the first high-definition public station in Ohio, and, through CETconnect.org, the first public television station to offer a community-based public media on-demand service. For more information about CET, CET Arts or CET Create, visit www.CETconnect.org.
CET serves viewers and residents in the following counties: Adams, Brown , Butler, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Fayette, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Warren in Ohio; Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, Rush, Switzerland, Union and Wayne in Indiana; Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Harrison, Henry, Kenton, Mason, Owen, Pendleton, Robertson, Scott and Trimble in Kentucky.