'Waiting for Superman'

There is a crisis in our nation and in our community regarding high school graduation rates. The graduation rate is at a record low in the Cape Girardeau School District with one out of four students currently not graduating. And who has the power to stop it? Who is the hero? You are.

The low graduation rate prompted a yearlong study by the United Way to understand what the issues are and what we can do about them as a community. A community presentation is planned for February to report our findings and present strategies for success and, most importantly, offer suggestions for ways you can get involved and make a difference.

One step we ask you to take now is to see a documentary titled "Waiting for Superman" -- now showing at West Park 14 Cine in Cape Girardeau.

The documentary focuses on five students in urban areas, and although it has received criticism for questioning teacher effectiveness and provides examples of successes by some charter schools, we hope it moves you to have compassion for children in our community that are not succeeding and causes you to take action.

We are blessed with effective teachers in our community, and charter schools are not a solution for us. But in order to ensure all students have a chance at success, we need more people to engage with them.

The film's director, Davis Guggenheim, reveals that the superheroes we've been waiting for to save our schools are all around us. They are me and you.

Why is the United Way getting involved in increasing the graduation rate? Because it has been identified as one of the most critical issues our community currently faces, and it is linked to so many more.

Our work is centered on strengthening families with a focus on education, income and health as the building blocks for a good quality of life. In an effort to understand more about the critical issues facing families in our area, we became aware of how family issues are affecting our most vulnerable -- our youth -- and realized that many students are not receiving the support they need to be successful in school.

This is a community issue that the school has responded to by serving breakfast, hiring social workers and developing tools for parents to use to stay in touch with how their students are doing in school.

We also understand the economic impact of low graduation rates for our area. College graduates are estimated to earn over $1 million more than high school dropouts over their lifetime. In order to attract businesses to our area, we need to have a qualified work force.

We ask you to "raise your hand for education" by taking the first step and seeing this movie, then give us a call and let us know you are ready to be the hero our youth need.

Nancy Jernigan is the executive director of the United Way of Southeast Missouri.