“It’s evolving,” said Klamath Promise Coordinator Anne Hiller Clark. “It’s definitely not what it was when we started.

Accomplishments

Just the list of different events shows how the strength and impact of the Klamath Promise has changed over the last three years.

When the Klamath Promise kicked off in November, 2013, the goal was simple: 100 percent of students graduate ready for college and career. Since that time, the Klamath Promise has been behind or inspired many community efforts such as:

• The door project: In 2014 community members and businesses wrote messages on brightly painted doors to inspire students. Those doors were then placed in schools around the county;

• Cinnamon rolls: Green Blade Bakery decided to offer a class free cinnamon rolls if they set a record for the number of perfect attendance days in a row;

• Clap-Out: Roosevelt Elementary school holds a “clap out” every spring to send fifth-graders on to middle school with a cheer. They’re greeted by Klamath Union High School graduates to remind them they’re on the road to graduation;

• Graduation Walk: Community members walk to visit homes of students in danger of dropping out, reminding them how many people are encouraging them to graduate.

And in the past year, the Klamath Promise has put in two major events it hopes to make annual.

The Graduation Sensation brought all the schools in the county together, when all the graduating seniors marched down Main Street in Klamath Falls on June 2. Community members, business owners and government officials lined the streets cheering them on.

And just this past week, the Herald and News and Pacific Power kicked off the new school year by bringing all the seniors in the class of 2017 to the Ross Ragland Theater, inspiring them with speaker Aric Jackson at the Graduation Motivation event.

Chronic absenteeism

Though it’s not a new goal, the Klamath Promise continues taking on a major issue this school year: chronic absenteeism.

“The theme is ‘Success Through Education,’ and attendance is one of our big goals across the board for all the ages we work with,” Hiller Clark said.

Chronic Absenteeism is when a student misses 10 percent of the school year or more. This is different from overall attendance rates at a given school, as it focuses on the individual students and how missing class impacts them. Chronic absenteeism adds up to missing about 20 or more school days a year, said Klamath Falls City Schools Superintendent Paul Hillyer.

“The likelihood for students who have been chronically absent for several years to go on to an on-time graduation is very slim,” he said. “Having isolated this key variable has caused schools to work very hard and invest resources in improving attendance.”

This school year, the city district and Klamath Promise are cooperating in the Strive for Five initiative, the goal of students missing no more than five days of school this year. The Klamath Promise is also working with Oregon Tech to complete research to understand barriers students face on the way to graduation.

Technical education

Another reason to change the motto to “Success Through Education” is the need to address all types of students, not just those headed for a four-year college.

“We have, over the last year, seen the need to give more opportunities for students to explore trades careers,” Hillyer said. “These trades careers also provide excellent middle class incomes to help bring students and their families a living wage.”

Thus “Success Through Education” doesn’t just mean graduating and going on to college. It can mean getting the training in high school for a trades career, also known as technical education, or going to Klamath Community College for any number of certificates.

Both Hillyer and Hiller Clark say there has been an evolution in the cooperation between Oregon Tech, KCC and the local high schools in both the city district and the Klamath County School District.

At the Graduation Motivation event last week, when Aric Jackson asked how many students were earning college credit, hands went up throughout the theater. Programs such as dual credit, College Now and pathway programs have made it easier and easier for students to earn college credit in high school, taking them toward a four-year degree or toward a certificate that will help them get a job after graduating.

“Two school districts can work in conjunction with our higher education partners to bring more opportunities for students at all high schools,” Hillyer said.

Building the economy

Training students in high school, college certificates or college degrees can add up to improvements for the local economy.

“We realize local economic development cannot happen without the preparation of a ready local workforce,” Hillyer said.

Part of that is ensuring schools are successful, as potential employers look to schools as a factor when deciding whether or not to relocate to an area like Klamath.

The Klamath Promise placed an advertisement in the local Discover Klamath visitors guide.

“To indicate to potential employers and people moving into the area that the community supports the schools,” Hiller Clark said, “and we are creating a pipeline of skilled workers for potential employers.”

“The Klamath Promise’s success equals Klamath Falls’ success,” Hillyer said.

Cooperation

One of the biggest changes since the Klamath Promise started in 2013, Hiller Clark said, is the number of cooperating agencies, businesses, faith leaders, community organizations and other partners.

“It’s grown from an effort that started out in the city schools to deal with their graduation effort to one that includes all the schools in the county,” she said. “Working closely with bringing the city and county school districts together to address not only the graduation rate issue, but other issues students face.”

Issues such as attendance, preparing for kindergarten and early learning, preparing for college, college credit in high school and helping students find the paths they want to take in life.

By getting many people from throughout the county working under the umbrella of the Klamath Promise, more are communicating on who does what and how they can work together — toward 100 percent high school graduation and success through education.

“I think it’s grown into something that is bigger,” Hiller Clark said. “The strength of it is it’s brought so many sectors of the community together to work on these issues in a broader way. So that it’s not just educators looking at education specific issues, and healthcare looking at those issues students have, and nonprofit mentoring organizations looking at providing mentors. It’s all of those groups now saying how we can work together to help the student as whole.”