January 25, 2006: America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth is pleased to announce that Oconee County is a winner of a national competition to identify the 100 Best Communities for Young People. In partnership with Capital One, the 100 Best competition honors communities – ranging from small towns to urban neighborhoods across America – for their commitment to provide healthy, safe and caring environments for young people. Hundreds of communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands took part in the competition.

The School District of Oconee County is one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People, in part, because of its dropout prevention efforts. In addition to emphasizing engaged learning via hands-on teaching, career clusters in each middle and high school and pre-engineering programs in each secondary school, each secondary school strives to engage each student in extra-curricular activities that reduce dropouts. Students who fall behind can participate in Novanet self-paced credit recovery programs. Attendance recovery opportunities are provided on Saturday mornings. In addition, if students continue to encounter difficulty, they may attend the Alternative Academy for a small-group, individualized education program.

“Nothing is more important than seeing that our children and youth have the resources and support systems they need to thrive and succeed,” said America’s Promise Founding Chairman General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.). “When a community provides all that its young people need to be healthy and secure, they deserve to be honored and showcased as an outstanding example of what it takes to successfully nurture this nation’s young people.”

A complete list of winners can be found at www.americaspromise.org. 100 Best Communities for Young People was first launched in 2005 by General Powell in partnership with Capital One Financial Corporation. Other members of America’s Promise Alliance — including United Way of America, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Big Brothers Big Sisters, National Association of Counties and the American Association of School Administrators and many others — took leading roles in encouraging communities to compete in the 100 Best competition.

Dr. Valerie Truesdale, District Superintendent, said “It is a tremendous honor for America’s Promise to recognize the School District of Oconee County as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People. The assets of our county are represented in our many partners for youth, including such groups as the Salem’s Lions’ Club, United Way, Oconee Memorial Hospital, Tri-County Technical College, the Education Foundation of Oconee County, and our business and ecumenical partners. Thousands of volunteer hours are donated each year by citizens of Oconee County to our schools. This distinction as one of America’s 100 Best Communities underscores the collaborative work of citizens with teachers and staff to make Oconee County a nurturing place for Youth.”

Dr. Truesdale also added, “Senator Thomas Alexander and I will be proud to represent Oconee County at the formal announcement of America’s Promise winners in Washington on January 25.”

The 2007 100 Best Communities for Young People competition opened in September 2006. The School District of Oconee County and the other winners applied for the honor and were chosen by a distinguished selection panel of civic, business and nonprofit leaders, including United Way of America President Brian Gallagher, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and Moderator of Meet the Press Tim Russert, CEOs for Cities’ President and CEO Carol Coleta, and former Denver mayor Wellington Webb.

The selection panel evaluated 100 Best entries that required detailed information about each community’s efforts to fulfill the Five Promises – the fundamental resources our children and youth need to succeed: caring adults who are actively involved in their lives; safe places in which to learn and grow; a healthy start toward adulthood; an effective education that builds marketable skills; and opportunities to help others.

“We held this competition to appeal to America’s competitive spirit to encourage communities to become great places to grow up.” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, President and CEO of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth. “Our winners’ outstanding efforts to deliver the Five Promises are shining examples of what it means to keep America’s Promise for our young people.”

"Capital One believes that every family should have the opportunity to provide for their children in ways that ensure future success," said Capital One President of Global Financial Services and America’s Promise board member Larry Klane, a member of the 2007 selection panel. "Through the 100 Best competition, we can recognize communities that foster the type of environment where children and families have opportunities and resources to realize their potential."

For more details about the 100 Best competition and the winners, please visit www.americaspromise.org.
 

About America’s Promise

Founded by retired General Colin L. Powell, the America’s Promise Alliance is the nation’s largest private-public partnership committed to ensuring that every child receives the five fundamental resources – the Five Promises - essential for success: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education and opportunities to help others.

Alma J. Powell currently serves as chair. Marguerite W. Kondracke serves as president and chief executive officer. Among the founding partners are the Corporation for National and Community Service, Points of Light Foundation, The United Way of America, Communities In Schools and MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.

America's Promise grew out of the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future in 1997, where Presidents Bush, Carter, Clinton and Ford, with Nancy Reagan representing President Reagan, challenged the country to make children and youth a national priority. President George W. Bush affirmed his commitment in 2001.
 

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company, with more than 324 locations in Texas and Louisiana. Its principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One, F.S.B., Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had $47.2 billion in deposits and $108.4 billion in managed loans outstanding as of June 30, 2006. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index.
 

More Information about Oconee’s Win

Partnerships with numerous organizations and individuals have made this award possible for Oconee County.

• Call Me Mister, a collaborative of Clemson University and S. C. State University, places African-American males in elementary schools. Misters work with at-risk youth weekly to mentor and tutor in reading and math, with Oconee County a key placement site.

• Junior Golf is a program sponsored by an affluent retirement community, Keowee Key. Over 500 students have been served in the 8 years the program has been in place.

• Since 1998 through the Swim Program, retirees have taught 436 at-risk youngsters to swim, funding transportation for students after school.

• Oconee Business-Education Partnership (OBEP) is a fifteen-year partnership of business, school and elected leaders to raise awareness of the importance of a strong workforce and relevant learning for students. OBEP has worked diligently to host an Educator in Business and Industry Day. This year, over 650 middle and high school teachers visited in an industry setting, learning first hand the skills and competencies needed for success in the workplace.

• The Education Foundation of Oconee County, a 501(c) 3 corporation, raises funds for classroom innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Service (STEMS). This year, over $55,000 has been raised to support teacher mini-grants in STEMS areas.

• Tri-County Technical College and Oconee Memorial Hospital have partnered to begin to expand the practical nursing program from high school career education through college with practicum experiences at the hospital, the collaborative grew into providing a full complement of college courses in the evenings on the campus of the Career Center.

• Tri-County Technical College also with, the school districts including Oconee in the three county areas to earn a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for a dropout retrieval program. Patterned after the Portland Community College’s Gateway to College program, this program opened with fifty dropouts in fall 2006 and another fifty will begin in January 2007. Over a three year period, 300 drop-outs will be served. Students between 16 and 21 can complete their high school requirements and earn an associate’s degree simultaneously on the technical college campus.

• Ecumenical Partners Group meets with school leaders for collaborative ventures. Youth ministers mentor teens during lunch.

• Healthy Children=Healthy Families is a collaborative with numerous partners, including United Way and Oconee Memorial Hospital. Attention to fitness and nutrition are central in the strategic plan for the school community.

• Character education, a priority in Oconee’s schools, is supported by statute and board policy. A partnership with Chick-Fil-A provides materials to schools for Core Essentials program.
   

Quotes from current and former students:

Cooper Littlejohn, a junior at Seneca High School said, “Our classroom teachers enrich our learning experience by involving the large retirement community, which is comprised of highly successful people from all over the world and from all walks of life who share their knowledge and expertise and provide us with exceptional opportunities and views of the world. A few minutes from our county is Clemson University with its wealth of knowledge and diversity, along with Southern Wesleyan University and Tri-County Technical College. We benefit from the energy and new approaches that student teachers from Clemson and surrounding colleges bring to our classrooms.”

Kelli Poole, former West-Oak High School graduate and current student at Clemson University said, “While in high school I was involved in a county-wide student group called the Healthy Ventures Youth Advisory Council. Throughout the school year the council would meet and discuss the “health” of Oconee County. Students brought up issues such as raising awareness about drug and alcohol use as well as seatbelt safety. In order to educate others about the health issues of the county, Healthy Ventures hosts an annual Healthy Youth Forum. During the forum student members work alongside key community members in facilitating discussions about the health of Oconee County’s youth population.”