Choice Bus Available for schools and community groups

Posted by on September 09, 2013

THE CHOICEBUS IS COMING! THE CHOICEBUS IS COMING!

Summary
The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation was created to help educators, community leaders and other interested groups reduce the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate through the creation of relevant and effective tools and resources. The Foundation is a national non-profit organization created in 2007 in honor of Dr. Stewart’s late mother, Mattie C. Stewart. By putting into action her son Samuel’s idea that we can all make a difference, The Foundation is dedicated to reducing the national dropout rate. In creating tools and resources for educators, community leaders and parents, The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation has developed innovative strategies to more effectively address this issue and the Choice Bus is just one of them.

The Choice Bus takes students through a 25-minute interactive presentation designed to show the relevancy of education to career choices and lifetime earning potential. Midway through the presentation, a full scale replica of a prison cell is revealed. It’s a powerful demonstration of how education—and the lack of education—is connected to making good or bad choices. During the presentation, The Choice Bus staff leads students in discussions about the importance of education, choosing friends wisely, avoiding gangs, being respectful to others and having a career interest.

Students learn several eye-opening facts about education:
• High school graduates earn more than high school dropouts
• College graduates earn a million dollars more over their lifetime than high school dropouts
• High school dropouts are more likely to spend time in prison than high school graduates
• 75% of prisoners are high school dropouts

The target grades are 6-10 and during a typical school day, approximately 350 students can experience The Choice Bus. Parents are encouraged to experience The Choice Bus with their children whenever possible. The message is powerful: a good education leads to a lifetime of opportunities and a lack of education will likely lead to a lifetime of despair and hardship.

State Farm would like to partner with you to have The Choice Bus visit schools in your community.

Detail

The Details are as follows:

Dates: November 5-8, 2013
Time: To be determined
Location(s): To be determined – middle/high schools preferred
Additional Items of Interest:

** Note: Once interest is expressed, meetings will be scheduled with those individuals to discuss how to introduce the Choice Bus to your school’s representative.

Action

Please review the details and let Public Affairs Specialist Dwayne Redd know if you are interested in having the Choice Bus visit your local school.  Dwayne can be contacted at: dwayne.redd.ia1b@statefarm.com