AMERICAN GRADUATE -- September 28, 2012 at 9:49 AM EDT

American Graduate Day, a Community Effort to Curb the Dropout Crisis

By: Kelly Chen

Last Saturday, public media came together to host the first American Graduate Day. The event, which took place on public radio and television stations, featured local and national programming and the voices of community leaders, teachers and mentors focused on getting more students to graduate from high school.

As senior NewsHour correspondent Ray Suarez, who hosted part of the seven-hour broadcast, wrote:

I realize there are few human beings in the United States who watched all of the program...but no matter. If you dipped in and out, sat and watched closely for an hour or two, or passed by during channel surfing in two different parts of the day, one couldn't help but be struck by the inventiveness, energy, and dedication of the people trying to get students to graduation day.

You can read more of his reflections in his post "Call is Out to Sabotage the Dropout Crisis."

For a closer snapshot American Graduate Day, here's a look at how the community event unfolded online:



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