Rotary STRIVE ProgramDan Sleeman is a member of the Ludington Rotary Club, which has been running a STRIVE program for 31 years. The acronym stands for Students Taking Renewed Interest in the Value of Education. Each Rotary club runs its STRIVE program slightly differently. Dan describes how the Ludington program works. The program works with high school juniors and seniors with a GPA below 2.0 and some life challenges. Each student is paired with a volunteer who meets one-on-one with them for 10-15 minutes each week. The benefit of a positive, supportive, non-judgmental adult who shows up every week just for the student is great. In the first year of the program, every student raised their grades and graduated. The average graduation rate over the last 30 years is 75%. Each mentor has access to their student's grades and homework assignments. In addition to the mentoring, the students develop community. The students who are included in this program may not understand how to seek help; they may not have friends who encourage them; and they may not have any other adults in their life who care. The students are included in activities such as working in the community gardens, carving pumpkins, bowling, and other activities. They also take a trip to the local community college and Michigan Works to learn about school and job activities after high school. The STRIVE program works to secure summer employment for its students, arranges scholarships, and has a graduation celebration.
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