American Graduate FAQS
On this week’s blog, we wanted to answer a few frequently asked questions (FAQS) about our American Graduate program, which aims to help young people graduate high school and then find pathways to successful careers.
What is the American Graduate Initiative?
The American Graduate initiative is public media’s long-term commitment to help young people succeed in school, career, and life. With its unique position as a trusted resource and important partner in local communities, public media provides a critical platform to shine a light on pathways to graduation and successful student outcomes. This initiative was made possible by the funding of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, in addition to local funders in Dayton and Cincinnati.
How Does It Work To Help Students?
For over nine years, the Corporation of Public Broadcasting has provided grants to local public media stations to facilitate dialogue in high-need communities around solutions to improve educational outcomes for youth on the path to graduation. American Graduate has engaged over 1,700 partners and inspired more than 9,000 adults to become “American Graduate Champions” – committed mentors who provide support and encouragement to young people.
What exactly is American Graduate: Getting to Work?
American Graduate: Getting to Work is the newest phase of the initiative, launched in in response to the skills gap in today’s working force. CPB awarded grants to 19 public media stations to focus on the talent needs for the nation’s future workforce and increase awareness in young adults and the people who influence them (parents, caregivers, guidance counselors, educators) of the education and training pathways to high-demand skilled careers. CET was one of these 19 stations. The initiative has been extended to the Dayton region through ThinkTV.
What does CET/ThinkTV’s involvement in American Graduate: Getting to Work look like?
Through American Graduate: Getting to Work, CET and ThinkTV are highlighting the changing world of work, the pathways into well-paying, in-demand jobs, and resources available to residents of southwestern Ohio. Specifically, middle-skills jobs offer opportunities to people looking to start or change a career. These jobs require some education and training after high school, but not necessarily a four-year degree.
What resources have we created as part of this initiative?
Against the backdrop of Ohio’s looming skills gap, The Career Path Less Taken, a half-hour documentary, travels across the state to innovative career-tech education programs (CTE) that are preparing young people for the jobs of tomorrow. The Career Path Less Taken challenges traditional notions of success by demonstrating that there are many pathways to skilled jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. The Career Path Less Taken is co-presented by Ohio’s public television stations – CET, ideastream and WOSU Public Media – as a part of American Graduate: Getting to Work. Watch the documentary here.
We also have created a variety of video assets that can help both young persons and adults learn how they can jump-start their career, or find their way to a better-paying job. . You can view all of them at https://dayton-americangraduate.org/media/.
To learn more about the national American Graduate initiative please visit https://www.cpb.org/americangraduate. To learn even more about CET and ThinkTV’s participation please visit https://dayton-americangraduate.org/.
