{"id":11301,"date":"2018-03-26T10:32:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T15:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/?p=11301"},"modified":"2018-11-06T13:34:06","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T19:34:06","slug":"npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"NPT Reports Overton Freshmen Make Commitment to Graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"580\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/la2y8STU0r8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>At Nashville\u2019s Overton High School<\/a>, 9<sup>th<\/sup> grade students spent a lot of time this school year planning for graduation\u2014four years from now. Every freshman had to write down specific steps to reach the goal of graduating with the class in 2015. They also had to name 3 people who can help support them in the process, and sign a certificate as sort of an oath to stay on track.<\/p>\n<p>Those steps are part of a unique program at Overton called &#8220;Commitment to Graduate,&#8221; or C2G. On the day that high school juniors in Tennessee were taking the ACT, and Overton seniors were allowed time for college-visitations\u2014the freshmen spent a day reflecting on their graduation goals, participating in team-building activities, and signing a huge banner that says \u201cCommitment to Graduate: Class of 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ninth-grader D\u2019Anthony Wilson says banner-signing and goal-writing can make a difference for some students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt could be a contract; you could call it that\u2014(a contract) to commit to graduate,\u201d says Wilson.<\/p>\n<p>As Katie Harton signs her name to the banner, she points out that C2G makes it okay for students who are easily influenced by peer pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s high school, so everybody does like what everybody else is doing. Since everybody\u2026 signed it, I think it helps,\u201d says Harton.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0C2G does rely a bit on peer influence and gimmicks; the students also receive green arm bracelets that say \u201cCommitment to Graduate\u201d and t-shirts printed with Class of 2015. But the program is more complex than it seems, according to the Freshman Academy Principal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe freshman year really is the most important year for kids,\u201d says Dr. Jill Pittman, Freshman Academy Principal. \u00a0\u201cWhat we know is if they decide that they\u2019re not going to graduate, they pretty much have decided that by the time they\u2019re in 9<sup>th<\/sup> grade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe commitment is to evaluate their own progress and to be responsible for their own success.\u00a0 So we did that through looking at student data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Using statistics provided by the Data Warehouse <\/a>of Metro Nashville Public Schools, students study spreadsheets reflecting their specific numbers \u2013 attendance record, disciplinary actions, grades and test scores.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re not always grounded in reality, so this serves as a great reality-check for kids,\u201d says Pittman. \u201cWhen you talk to kids and say \u2018What did you learn today about yourself that you didn\u2019t know before?\u2019 Just to have kids say \u2018Wow, I\u2019ve been tardy a lot for school this year.\u2019 Or to say \u2018I thought I wanted to go to medical school, but when I look at my grades I realize they aren\u2019t that strong&#8211; so I have a lot of work to do.\u2019 \u00a0Or for kids to say \u2018I think I\u2019ve got it going on\u2014I\u2019m in good shape!\u2019 is really reaffirming. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>Pittman says C2G is not all self-centered for the freshmen. During group sessions, students are encouraged to map out strategies and collaborate on their individual goals toward graduations, as well as how they can support each other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of power in kids trusting each other enough to say \u2018Here\u2019s what I\u2019m doing and I can help you along the way.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have faith in myself that I\u2019ll be able to graduate. But for others who don\u2019t have so much faith in themselves, I can help them,\u201d says Wilson. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to start a new trend I guess, and we\u2019re going to start helping other students so they can become successful because we\u2019re going to get as many people to do it as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Overton school officials say the current school graduation rate is a bit more than 77%- higher than the state average, but not where they\u2019d like it to be. \u00a0And while C2G has much symbolism and meaning, Pittman admits it must be constant and repetitive\u2014for the next 3 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we were to get 90% of these kids\u2014so 9 out of 10\u2014to follow through on their commitment and do it in 4 years, then we would feel like that was a good step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll have a very visible reminder: the huge banner with all their signatures will be hung in the lobby of the school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd there it shall hang until these kids graduate!&#8221; says Pittman.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Nashville\u2019s Overton High School, 9th grade students spent a lot of time this school year planning for graduation\u2014four years from now. Every freshman had to write down&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1923,900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-graduate-2","category-npt-reports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NPT Reports Overton Freshmen Make Commitment to Graduate - Nashville PBS Media Update<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NPT Reports Overton Freshmen Make Commitment to Graduate - Nashville PBS Media Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At Nashville\u2019s Overton High School, 9th grade students spent a lot of time this school year planning for graduation\u2014four years from now. Every freshman had to write down&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nashville PBS Media Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-26T15:32:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-06T19:34:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LaTonya Turner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LaTonya Turner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"LaTonya Turner\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#\/schema\/person\/3c2b7b5058586126b81392d94e4e1d6a\"},\"headline\":\"NPT Reports Overton Freshmen Make Commitment to Graduate\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-26T15:32:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-06T19:34:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"American Graduate\",\"NPT Reports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2018\/03\/26\/npt-reports-overton-freshmen-make-commitment-to-graduate\/\",\"name\":\"NPT Reports Overton Freshmen Make Commitment to Graduate - 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