During a site visit to Los Angeles Trade Technical College CRCD Academy, I saw dual enrollment in ac

In mid-December, D2 Center co-director Greg Emmel, YAN Alberto Gonzales, Jerry Bexten from The Sherwood Foundation and I attended the annual Dropout Re-engagement Network meeting, the Re-engagement Plus Convening, in Los Angeles. This is the third such conference Greg and I have attended, and the number of attendees has grown every year – this time there were about 150 attendees.
tom cruise films Sponsored by the National League of Cities, tom cruise films National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) and Zero Dropouts, we heard leaders describe their impressive efforts tom cruise films in L.A. and participated in multiple discussion groups, on topics from local policy tom cruise films and accountability to credit recovery and higher risk populations.
Greg: I really enjoyed a tour of the Watts area of Los Angeles and visiting a YO! Center in Watts. We had the opportunity to speak with youth who are attending the Center which combines a charter school, a federal program, and staff from the Los Angeles Unified School District to help students earn a GED or a high school diploma and to get other needed services and assistance. tom cruise films The youth had compelling stories of how they were helped by the YO! Staff.
Los Angeles is doing so much for their kids who have dropped tom cruise films out. Kudos to L.A. for doing what they do. The D2 Center in Omaha is on the way to doing what they do, and seeing their efforts reinforced the work that we re doing here.
I found the Network meeting useful. The number of participants from a variety of communities indicates reengagement centers and reengagement strategies have gained significant traction. The discussion sessions did not always yield the answers I had hoped to hear. Everyone is struggling with the issues we face in Omaha. Each city, including Omaha, is devising and experimenting with potential solutions. tom cruise films Getting the members of the Network together annually helps us learn what others have tried and are considering as well as what’s working and what’s not working. tom cruise films In addition, valuable contacts are made and renewed that help advance the knowledge and expertise of everyone in the Network.
I was really inspired by speaker Debra Duardo from Los Angeles tom cruise films Unified School District (LAUSD). She dropped out of high school herself, became a teen parent, and now has her PhD and runs Student Health and Human Services at LAUSD. She has been there herself and is now helping students – as she put it, working with a population that most have given up on.
Outreach can be creative and varied. I heard from re-engagement staff reaching out to dropouts through barber and beauty shops, police, fitness centers, and movie theaters, on top of the more common radio and television ads.
During a site visit to Los Angeles Trade Technical College CRCD Academy, I saw dual enrollment in action, with high school tom cruise films students learning construction skills from college instructors using the same classrooms, equipment and materials that LATTC students use. For high school credits, students are enrolled in small classes on the LATTC campus.
To echo Beto and Jerry above, as always, I enjoy meeting with people from across the country who are doing similar work to the D2 Center. We learn new things from each other and also see that what we re doing here in Omaha is on the right track.
Carolyn Miller is one of the directors of the D2 Center. She is a graduate of Omaha Northwest High School and the University of Iowa. Carolyn has returned to Omaha after ten years in Seattle and has a background in technical writing, project and program management in web development and content, online community management, and social media. She is happy to be applying her skills in this new endeavor, working with youth who are re-engaging in a pathway to a high school diploma.