Every 26 seconds another student gives up on school and drops out. That's more than one million high school students each year, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education.
Nearly half of all Latino students don’t complete high school on time, despite the fact that young Latinos are just as likely as other young people to say a college education is important for success.
Ford Motor Company Fund and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are partnering to help students stay on the road to graduation. Through Ford Driving Dreams through Education, ten LULAC chapters will receive $20,000 over a two-year period to address high school dropout rates among Latino students in their communities.
“Education is a critical component to the future success of Latino youth,” said LULAC National Executive Director, Brent Wilkes. “LULAC is excited to be working with Ford and our councils to implement local solutions to help more Latino youth graduate from high school.”
The grant selection process considered best practices for engaging students, such as mentorship programs, after-school volunteer and extracurricular activities and parental involvement. In addition, each grant recipient developed sustainable programs that reflect the local education landscape and rely on partnerships with local education institutions.
The ten grantee recipients are the following:
- LULAC Cesar E. Chavez Council #1086 (Mesa, Ariz.)
- LULAC #1083 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
- LULAC Salinas Council #2055 (Salinas, Calif.)
- Santa Ana LULAC #147 (Santa Ana, Calif.)
- Midwest City LULAC #19002 (Midwest, Okla.)
- Central Texas LULAC #4734 (Temple, Texas)
- Collin County LULAC #4537 (Plano, Texas)
- Greater Houston LULAC Council #4967 (Houston, Texas)
- LULAC Council for Justice, Equality and Business Development #4782 (Farmers Branch, Texas)
- Milwaukee LULAC #326 (Milwaukee, Wis.)
LULAC grant recipients will begin implementing their programs this fall.
For more information on Ford Driving Dreams, please visit www.lulac.org.
