For Immediate Release

Contact:
 
Colleen Wilber, America’s Promise Alliance
(202) 657-0647
[email protected]

Maggie Neilson, The Show Me Campaign
(310) 573-8978
[email protected]

America’s Promise Alliance and John Legend’s Show Me Campaign Unite to Engage Communities in Dropout Prevention

Groups will Distribute Critically-Acclaimed Documentary Waiting for “Superman” DVDs and Facilitate Discussions and Action around High School Dropout Crisis

WASHINGTON –America’s Promise Alliance (the Alliance) and John Legend’s Show Me Campaign announced today that they will collaborate to raise awareness about America’s high school dropout crisis in underserved communities. The organizations will distribute DVDs and social action toolkits for the critically acclaimed documentary Waiting for “Superman” to communities throughout the country and engage with these communities to reduce their high school dropout rates.

“This film provides such an intimate and powerful look into the challenges that many young people and their families in this country face in their quest to get a good education,” said Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO, America’s Promise Alliance. “It’s heartbreaking to think that the probability of success for many young people is often left to the luck of a school lottery or the quality of the school in their neighborhood. We are grateful to be partnering with the Show Me Campaign to help share the message of this film and inspire action in more communities.”

“Everybody has a role to play in fixing America's public schools,” said John Legend, Grammy award winning artist and founder of the Show Me Campaign. “The future of our nation depends on it.  I hope as many people as possible watch this film.  It will inform you and will hopefully inspire you to join the fight for education reform.”
Directed by Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim, Waiting for “Superman” examines the challenges and triumphs of the American public education system through the stories of real-life students and their families. The film was first released in spring 2010 and is a Paramount Pictures release of a Participant Media presentation in association with Walden Media.  

Both groups will work with their partner networks to identify communities to host screenings and distribute the DVD and toolkit packages through their chapter affiliates. Partners may include the following organizations: MENTOR, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the National PTA, Stand for Children, the Education Equality Project and others.

This partnership is part of the Alliance’s Grad Nation Campaign, a 10-year campaign to mobilize the entire nation to take action to reverse the dropout crisis and help achieve the overall national goal of increasing the graduation rate for all students to 90 percent by 2020.  Launched in March 2010 with the support of President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Grad Nation is the second phase of the Alliance’s highly successful Dropout Prevention Campaign launched in April 2008.  Between 2008 and 2010, the Alliance sponsored and helped co-convene 105 Dropout Prevention Summits in all 50 states bringing more than 40,000 policy, business, education, community and faith leaders together with nonprofits, parents and young people to discuss the dropout crisis in their communities and begin a dialogue on solutions around it.

To see a copy of the Alliance’s Waiting for “Superman” Toolkit visit: http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Grad-Nation/Waiting-for-Superman…

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About The Show Me Campaign

Created by Grammy Award-winning artist and philanthropist John Legend, the Show Me Campaign is a nonprofit organization that fights poverty using proven solutions. Believing that equal access to quality education is the civil rights issue of our time, the Show Me Campaign fights for education reform in the United States. Inspired by his work in education reform, Show Me Campaign’s founder John Legend wrote the song “Shine” for Waiting for “Superman,” Davis Guggenheim’s epic documentary about domestic education reform. More information can be found at www.showmecampaign.org.

About America’s Promise Alliance

America’s Promise Alliance is the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth by raising awareness, supporting communities, and engaging in nonpartisan advocacy. Through our Grad Nation campaign, we harness the collective power of our partner network to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce.  Building on the legacy of our Founding Chairman General Colin Powell, the Alliance believes the success of our young people is grounded in the Five Promises—caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others.  For more information about America’s Promise Alliance, visit www.americaspromise.org.