ATHENS, W.Va. — Close to 1,700 ninth graders across five counties in southern West Virginia will make a commitment to graduating from high school in a pair of ceremonies over the next two days.
“It’s a ceremony where we’re bringing in a guest speaker that has a fantastic story and inspiring story to share with students so they can get excited about graduating from high school,” said Jessica Lilly, Communications Manager for Gear Up Southern West Virginia.
Each of the freshmen students in high schools in Mercer, Monroe, Summers, Raleigh, and Wyoming Counties will be part of one of the two events which will be held this week. Thursday’s ceremony will be at Bluefield High School and Friday’s event will be at Woodrow Wilson High School. At each event, students will be treated to a high energy and uplifting presentation from Dr. Adolph Brown, a nationally known clinical psychologist, author, and motivational speaker. Brown’s message will be for students, even though they are in the initial days of their high school experience, to embrace it from the beginning and never lose sight of the goal at the end of the next four years, which is a diploma in 2029.
“I think a lot of times we overlook the steps that need to be taken before we get to our long term goals. At Gear Up Southern West Virginia we want to help students break it down step-by-step, the goals they need to achieve to get to that long-term goal,” Lilly explained.
Lilly suggested it’s not too early for students to start considering a career path and to make choices about classes now which could help them reach their chosen course of study at the next level.
“We want to make sure they understand how important it is and don’t miss one of these first steps, ” she said. “We don’t want students to show up junior or senior year and realize, ‘…oh gosh I don’t have the right credits I need to graduate or I didn’t take the English class I need.’ We want to help them start planning now for their future.”
Lilly noted several key statistics about West Virginia which make the commitment ceremonies important. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, West Virginia’s high school graduation rate at 91.2% which is above the national average of 87%, in relation to a public 4-year cohort on-time graduations. But the state’s bachelor’s degree attainment is 19.6% and falls far below the U.S. average of 30.6%. The state’s rate of having at least an associate’s degree or higher is 31% which is also far below the U.S. average of 46%.
“Students have a little bit of leverage in taking those elective classes and what their plans and pathways are going to be. We want them to understand their choices now do matter and they’ll matter for the rest of their lives really,” Lilly said.