Project Graduate 100% in Beltrami Co. Starts Dropout Prevention Hotline

The graduation rate for high school students in Beltrami County and throughout Minnesota remains unacceptable according to Dr. John Eggers, founder and director of Project Graduate 100%. On March 1, the project launched a Dropout Prevention Hotline with the goal of helping improve those numbers.

The hotline will be used to provide support to those considering their decision to drop out or stay in school.

“As most people know in this area, our graduation rate for Beltrami County isn’t what it should be. It should be 100%, and we’re at about 65%,” said Eggers. [The] Dropout Prevention Hotline is for students, parents, citizens and anybody who wants to help somebody else graduate. And we think that probably the majority of our calls may come from parents who just need another resource to refer to.”

Volunteers on the program will undergo a brief training that will cover topics that may arise during a phone call.

“The whole idea is to make graduation really part of our culture, part of a mindset. And if we can do that, then we’re going to accomplish our goal,” explained Eggers. “Because every student that has graduated from high school had a mindset to graduate. They may have had struggles along the way, but somewhere along the way someone said to them they need to graduate or they just realize themselves they need to graduate, and they did it.”

Eggers also says the hotline is there to get the community involved. “If we can just help one student graduate, it’ll be worth it. But I think having the total community involved is probably the single most interesting facet about this program.”

The hotline can be called at 218-444-STAY (7829). Eggers says he’s determined to have this hotline available for everyone who might just need someone to talk to about graduating.