Bill Gates Kicks Off Get Schooled Program
By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 9/17/2009
High school students have some fairly heavy hitters behind them, with the launch of Get Schooled—a five-year program designed to help kids not just do well in class, but also graduate.
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Bill (left) and Melinda (right) Gates at the Get Schooled launch. |
Everyone from President Barack Obama to Bill Cosby has taken up the mantle to get students reinvigorated about their education. And there’s good reason—the majority of Americans, 89 percent, believe that if students in the United States don’t receive an education as good as their overseas peers, it can have a negative effect on our economy, according to a study from research firm, the Winston Group.
“The cost to the U.S. economy of students unprepared to enter college and the workforce is close to $4 billion annually in lost wages and remedial education costs,” says Phillipe Dauman, president and CEO of Viacom in a release. “But the long-term cost is exponentially greater.”
At its launch last week, attended by educators, students, corporate partners, and celebrities, Get Schooled premiered a 30-minute documentary, “Get Schooled: You Have The Right” featuring LeBron James, Kelly Clarkson and President Obama, and it’s available for streaming on the site. The message? That students take
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Heidi Klum and Seal attended Bill Gates’s Get Schooled LA Conference and premiere at Paramount Studios. |
After watching the special, Get Schooled hopes educators, students, and their parents will bookmark the site and continue coming back throughout the school year. Plans are already in the works, says Groark, to build additional online resources that allow teachers and school librarians to connect with each other and share ideas on ways to motivate students.
The program's first mission is to connect to high school students, offering help on how to apply for financial aid, or even find a career. The site is playfully written with teens in mind, letting them pick from interests such as throwing parties, fast cars, and playing video games—and showing them relevant jobs that could spin from these hobbies.
However, the group will eventually reach out to students in younger grades, with the goal of getting them focused on finishing high school and college, as early as possible.
“We know that the earlier a young person thinks about going to college, we end up with higher rates of graduation in high school and college,” says Groark. “Having that influence and reinforcement early is really important.”
