ACTIONN VOICES

"I wish that their teachers had reached out to their mother and me and showed us how we could have made a difference in their education."

Hello. I am Barbara Rowell, a member of First Congregational Church, and I want to make a difference in changing the future for more of our children in Northern Nevada.

But I have to tell you, it is hard to share this story. It is hard, because I keep asking myself if I could have changed the outcomes. It is my hope that by my sharing this personal story, we can change the story for other children in our community. 

I am a loving grandmother of 10 young adults. They are all so bright and it is a pleasure for me to spend time with them. Five of these smart youngsters live in other places-Missouri, California and Las Vegas. Each of those graduated high school with honors and is on their way to a successful future. All 5 are now in college or other continuing education and on the path to a successful future. One has already bought a house. 

Then there are the 5 who live here in Reno. These 5 are also so bright and full of potential, not on drugs or in trouble with the law. But each of these young people has dropped out of high school in their senior year. When I ask myself what happened to the 5 local grandchildren, I see a pattern that was established by the oldest brother, that the 4 younger ones copied. I know that their friends also dropped out of high school as well. 

For these 5, it just seemed normal to leave high school without graduating. Each of them started to fall behind with credits in freshman year. Yet, they were all passed on to the next grade. But when each got to be a senior, they just gave up hope of catching up and left school. 

I wish that their teachers had reached out to their mother and me and showed us how we could have made a difference in their education. I know that their once so great prospects will be seriously limited by their forfeited education. 

I have seen the data that the difference in lifetime salary for a dropout and a high school graduate is about $300,000. But what probably hurts the most, is knowing that these bright young people could have made a big difference in our community and our world that will now be limited by their educational attainment.

Let's not let this happen to other young people in our community. Please join with me and get involved with ACTIONN.