Students offer creative ways to increase N.C.’s high school graduation rate
January 26, 2012 –

Stanly Early College is one of five high school state finalists in this year’s Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation sponsored by the Insitute for Emerging Issues (IEI). Last fall, IEI challenged North Carolina students to unleash their creativity and work collaboratively to come up with an innovative way to increase the state’s high school graduation rate. Nearly 70 teams of high school and college students from across the state submitted innovative ideas to keep students in school. The Stanly Early College grant (written by students Andrea Coria, Alexa Linnell, and Travis Turner, along with their teacher Janet Rogers) promotes the use of Kindle Fire eReaders for second graders to get kids hooked on reading early with fun technology so reading comprehension and vocabulary skills rise exponentially.

Beginning Monday, January 30, the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) will call on North Carolinians to vote for the winners of the second annual Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation on its website (www.emergingissues.org). The two winning teams – one from the high school age category and one from the college age category – will each receive $5,000, which will be used to put their ideas into action.

Voting begins Monday, January 30 and will be hosted on IEI’s website where people can view short videos created by the finalists, and then vote for the one that has the most potential in each age category. Individuals are allowed to cast one vote per email address for each age category. To vote for local students, choose “Kindles for Second Graders” from Stanly Early College at  http://www.ncsu.edu/iei/index.php/news-events/emerging-issues-prize-for-innovation .

The winning teams will be announced on February 7 at the Emerging Issues Forum, where more than 1,000 of the state’s leaders will gather in Raleigh to learn more about this generation, and discuss its effect on our state, our workforce, and our economic competitiveness. 

The Institute for Emerging Issues is a public policy organization dedicated to North Carolina’s future competitiveness. By supporting collaboration among individuals from all sectors and areas of the state, IEI builds an enduring capacity for progress. Learn more at: www.emergingissues.org