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Founder and vice chairman of Communities In Schools (CIS), is one of the nation's foremost pioneers in the movement to give young people the help they need to finish school and go on to rewarding careers. He experienced the frustration of school failure personally, discouraged and disappointed in himself, and then as a youth advocate working with inner city kids. Over more than a decade, Bill and other volunteers opened a series of "store-front" alternative schools for getting kids back on track. Eventually these successful practices led to the founding of CIS. He is the author of two other books about his experiences in service to youth.
Learn more about his work at
CommunitiesInSchools.org.
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All author proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Communities in Schools.
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Purchase from your local bookseller or from either bookseller below.
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Communities In Schools
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Communities In Schools champions the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life.
"Kids need to be turned on to living before you can turn them on to learning."
These are the basics that every young person needs and deserves:
A one-on-one relationship with a caring adult
A safe place to learn and grow
A healthy start and a healthy future
A marketable skill to use upon graduation
A chance to give back to peers and community
CommunitiesInSchools.org
"One of the Top 100 Nonprofits Most Likely to Save the World ..."
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A Dropout Epidemic Threatens America
Can We Reclaim our Kids' Future in Time?
Did you know that almost one third of our public high school students fail to graduate? Young Americans who drop out of school have little hope for a decent future. Without a high school diploma, they're far more likely than their peers to be unemployed, live in poverty, suffer from poor health, become dependent on social services, and go to jail. Half of all prison inmates are dropouts. Can we turn around this tragic waste of young lives with the right help at the right time?
In his compelling new book, The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! Bill Milliken offers hope for a brighter future. Bill, founder of Communities In Schools (CIS), the nation's leading community-based organization for helping kids stay in school, reveals the enormous cost to American society from our failure to give kids the things they need to stay the course and graduate.
Learn how you can make a difference when you purchase your copy of The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! from your local bookseller or from either bookseller below:
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Stopping the dropout epidemic is everybody's businessall of us have a stake in the achievements and the well-being of future generations. The Last Dropout is a powerful call to actionfrom moving stories of early efforts to help kids at risk on the streets of Harlem to a proven program for organizing the resources needed to keep kids in school and help them thrive.
And the time to take action is now. As Bill says in his powerful book:
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The dire consequences for these young people are mirrored in the costs to American societyto you, your children, and the future of our country. Dropouts are costing us billions of dollars in lost wages and increased social supports, including medical care and welfare benefits. Each youth who drops out of school and later moves into a life of crime or drugs is costing the nation somewhere between $1.7 and $2.3 million.
The dropout epidemic is creating a divided society whose consequences will be devastating for all Americans, not just the young people themselves. It is at once a practical disaster for our economy, a human tragedy for the children and families concerned, and a justice issue that confronts every citizen.
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In The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! Bill offers a blueprint for change. Read about the work of Communities In Schools (CIS), an organization enlisting the help of many leaders in education, business, and the faith community to build networks of community support services that work in the public schools. CIS already reaches more than one million at-risk students and their families annually in more than 3,400 American schools.
The dropout crisis is not just about education! The Last Dropout describes the practical and proven methods used by CIS to bring community resources into the schools. Working together to give kids the nonacademic support and care they need, communities can free the schools to do the job they were designed to dohelp kids learn and gain the knowledge and skills they need for a happy, hopeful, prosperous future. Our society can only survive and thrive when all members are given the opportunity to fulfill their potential, to be independent, productive, and caring.
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Epidemics spread, but so do the forces for good. When a community carries out its commitment to help children succeed, it also builds the relationships and trust that can take on any challenge.
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Order your copy of Bill Milliken's The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! today and see how this compelling handbook of hope can fuel a new course of action for America's communities and their schools.
Order from your local bookseller or from either bookseller below:
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Praise for The Last Dropout
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"Great public schools are a basic right for every child. That right can only be
guaranteed when communities partner with educators to assure that each student
has the resources needed to succeed. In The Last Dropout, Bill Milliken
tells us that we can end the dropout crisis only if we get serious about working
together to meet the diverse needs of students in our public schools.
Milliken puts the spotlight on the crisis, and now it will take
everyone sharing responsibility to correct it."
Reg Weaver, president, National Education Association
"Bill Milliken's book The Last Dropout is proof that visionaries like
him see the full potential in our children. These are the visionaries and
leaders of our future and of our civilizations. If you want to make a
difference in the world, read this book."
Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of The Book of Secrets
"Bill Milliken is one of my heroes. He made a lifelong commitment to young
people and always walks his talk. This book tells the truth—with facts
and stories and heart and humor—about how ‘the system’ has failed so
many of our kids, and what we can and must do about that."
Russell Simmons, founder, Def Jam Music and Phat Fashions
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