Pomp and Circumstance - Our Favorite Song!

Pomp and Circumstance - Our Favorite Song!

May 20, 2016

May brings on our favorite time of the year. Yes, we love all the fun of the Kentucky Derby, but actually, we're referring to GRADUATION SEASON!

Whether it's children graduating from preschool headed to kindergarten, or students graduating from high school prepared for college, work or life - we celebrate all kids who are achieving this huge milestone!

Let us help honor the graduate in your life; please tweet or Instagram a photo of your Class of 2016 graduate to #Classof2016LiveUnited. We would love to share on our social channels as well as our website to celebrate our community's students!

You can also email pics to melody.murphy@metrounitedway.org

Why is graduating high school so important? Check out these stats:

High School Graduation By The Numbers

Nearly 1 out of every 4 students will not graduate on time, and nearly 1,200 students in our community will drop out of school this year.

People who fail to complete high school by age 20 are 50% more likely to have sporadic employment.

Kentuckians who have not graduated from high school earn $7,800 less per year than those with a diploma or GED.

Although the state inmate population is less than 20% of the overall population, 50% of that population does not have a high school diploma.

More than 6,200 students dropped out of Kentucky's high schools in 2010; the lost lifetime earnings in Kentucky for that class of dropouts alone totals more than $4.2 billion.

If the high school students who dropped out of the class of 2011 nationally had graduated, the nation's economy would have benefitted from the nearly $154 billion in additional income over the course of their lifetimes.

And also visit HERE for more information.

As we prepare to watch graduates walk across the stage and get their diploma, we're also ready with tissue in hand because our favorite song - Pomp and Circumstance - always gets us. You, too?

Congratulations to all students in the Class of 2016! Our community is proud of you!