News & Updates

100 Best Communities for Young People for the 5th consecutive time

St. Louis Park Named One of the Nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People for the 5th consecutive time

St. Louis Park has achieved national recognition as one of America’s Promise Alliance’s 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING for the fifth consecutive time for its initiatives to help young people. The competition recognizes communities across the country that focus on reducing high school dropout rates and providing service and support to its youth.

St. Louis Park has dedicated the past 20 years to transforming the way the community sees its young people with a specific focus on embracing cultural diversity. Three elementary schools are authorized International Baccalaureate World Schools and a fourth is a Spanish Immersion School. By investing $3 million a year in youth programs during non-school hours, St. Louis Park makes young people its priority, now graduating 95.2 percent of students. Through the successful implementation of programs such as BARR, Children First and HEROES, students have access to leadership opportunities and quality education. By increasing youth involvement in community service projects, children learn valuable lessons about themselves and others.

“In a nation where 7,000 students drop out of high school every day, we hope St. Louis Park’s initiatives inspire other communities across the nation to take action to solve the challenges facing their young people,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, America’s Promise Alliance president and CEO.  “St. Louis Park is especially deserving of this recognition due to their efforts to ensure that their young people graduate high school and go on to lead healthy, productive lives. St. Louis Park refuses to let the challenges they face determine the future for their young people. Instead, they are helping their youth prosper and become contributing members of society.”

St. Louis Park will receive a $2,500 grant, signage identifying the community as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People, and access to America’s Promise Alliance’s community development resources.

First held in 2005, the 100 Best competition is one of the Alliance’s signature initiatives and is part of its Grad Nation campaign, which is a 10-year initiative to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce.  The 100 Best honors communities large and small, rural and urban, that are making progress to help young people achieve their potential, which includes earning a high school diploma, securing a good job, and playing an active, productive role in America’s economic vitality.

All communities entering the 100 Best competition completed a rigorous application where they provided details on how their existing programs and initiatives help deliver the Five Promises—resources identified by the Alliance as being critical to the development of healthy, successful children: caring adults; safe places; healthy start; effective education; and opportunities to help others. Applicants were also asked to describe how different sectors of their community work together to help children and families overcome challenges. Most importantly, communities were judged on the strength and innovation of their efforts and programs to help young people graduate from high school prepared for college and the 21st century workforce.

This year, more than 300 communities from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were nominated for the 100 Best distinction.  Winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of 20 judges that included: Marc Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League, Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Michelle Shearer, Chemistry Teacher, Urbana High School, 2011 National Teacher of the Year.

The winners are a diverse group, ranging from small communities to large cities. A list of all 2011 winners can be found at www.americaspromise.org/100best.

Being a 100 Best community not only demonstrates commitment to local young people; the award fosters local pride, bolsters economic development and shines the spotlight on the people and programs that are building better communities. The competition also facilitates the sharing of best practices among communities nationwide regarding education, access to health care, reading score improvement, youth service and pre-school enrollment, among many other areas.