Campaign Urges Students To Stay In School

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

(NAPSA)—Sometimes, struggling students just need a boost. That’s the premise behind a new public awareness campaign created to encourage young people to stay in school. More than 1,200 teens drop out of high school every day in the United States. In response to the widespread dropout rate, a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) were designed to motivate teens, their parents and friends to give struggling students a “boost” to stay in school and graduate. The effort is sponsored by the Ad Council and U.S. Army and is a continuation of their high school dropout prevention campaign. The campaign focuses on the importance of staying in school. Created as a contribution to the campaign by the advertising firm of JWT, New York, the new TV, radio, outdoor and Internet ads feature at-risk high school students who are recording their struggles to stay in school by shooting documentary-style films of themselves and_ their friends/family. For example, a student in Vermont, Hannah, has been part of the state foster system and had been in many homes since she was removed from her mother and family. As part of her shifting from home to home, she has had to move from one school to another. Cyeaatt warn A new series of public service advertisements encourages teens, their parents and friends to give struggling students a “boost” to stay in school and graduate. Sheis currently living in a foster home with four other children. Another student, Amanda, is living with other family members in a trailer right outside of their house in New Orleans. The family hopes to renovatethetrailer, but they are struggling financially. Amanda is trying to stay focused on school, but says she finds this difficult with the turmoil in her family. The students featured in the campaign encourage others to submit their stories to www. Boostup.org, the campaign Web site. The PSAsare also available in Spanish. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 27 percent of Hispanic youths in America have dropped out of high school. To learn more, visit the cam- paign’s Web site at www.Boostup. org.

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