ACT Announces National Exemplars in 2016 College and Career Readiness Campaign

D.C. Gala Fetes Exceptional Students, High Schools, Community Colleges and Employers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last night ACT hosted its fourth annual National Gala on College and Career Readiness, the capstone event of a year long campaign to highlight students, schools, and employers for their exceptional achievements and commitment to preparing all individuals for life after high school. The ACT College and Career Readiness Campaign attracted over 41 state partners this year – an almost seven-fold increase since the first campaign three years ago.

 

National Exemplars in each of the four categories – Student Readiness (high school senior), College and Career Transition (high school), Career Preparedness (community college), and Workplace Success (employer) – were chosen by an external National Selection Committee comprising education, business, and political leaders. These National Exemplars were recognized at the gala for their exceptional commitment to improving college and career readiness for themselves, their students, their employees, and their communities. Each category represents a critical juncture in the college and career readiness continuum.

 

Jeremy Anderson, president of Education Commission of the States, served as chair of the 2016 National Selection Committee. Other committee members included Kris Amundson, National Association of State Boards of Education; Kwame Boadi, Democratic Governors Association; Adam Lowe, National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships; Chris Minnich, Council of Chief State School Officers; Angel Royal, American Association of Community Colleges; and Ranjit Sidhu, National Council for Community and Education Partnerships.

 

Student exemplars in every participating state received a scholarship, with each of the three student national semifinalists receiving a $2,000 scholarship and the National Exemplar student receiving a $4,000 scholarship.

 

“In their states and across the country, the exemplars in each category provide inspiration, innovation, and new ideas for practical solutions that are helping more individuals prepare for postsecondary and workplace success,” said Scott Montgomery, ACT vice president of policy, advocacy, and government relations. “We are proud to have had so many states participate in this year’s campaign. We’re also delighted that more students than ever before were able to benefit from the scholarships associated with these awards.”

 

Nominate exemplary high school seniors, high schools, community colleges, and employers in your state in the 2016-2017 campaign and learn more about the ACT College and Career Readiness Campaign.

The exemplars chosen in each of the four categories are: 


Student
Matthew Tyler Barrett
Dunwoody High School, DeKalb County School District, Dunwoody, Georgia
Student Quote:
“The greatest lesson that I’ve learned throughout my life is to never consider myself a victim. My circumstances do not define me, nor do they make me any better or less of a person. What does define me is an optimism that has transformed into resilience.”

 

By the time he graduates this spring, Matthew will have attended seven schools in four different states due to family moves. Through all those transitions, his interest in science, particularly astronomy and space travel, has remained consistent.

 

With the goal of someday working on building a Mars colony, he took college-level science and math classes through his high school’s dual enrollment partnership with a local college, and he regularly earned top grades in college preparatory courses across all subject areas.

 

To overcome his initial shyness about always being “the new kid at school,” Matthew sought out public speaking opportunities, earning top recognition in regional high school speech competitions and honing his presentation and leadership skills outside the classroom.

 

High School

Advanced Technologies Academy
Clark County School District
Las Vegas, Nevada

 

In Nevada, Advanced Technologies Academy (A-TECH) has consistently defied expectations and closed achievement gaps for underserved students, with equally high graduation rates for students across all demographic groups and 90 percent of graduating seniors enrolling in postsecondary education.

 

Among its 1,100 students, one in three are Hispanic and one in four ACT-tested students are from low-income households, yet average ACT test scores at A-TECH buck national trends and exceed Nevada’s average by six points. The school’s curriculum emphasizes technology and cross-disciplinary projects that develop students’ academic and career skills, with eight different program areas of study, all of which lead to completion of both a college-preparatory curriculum and professional certifications.

 

Community College
Elgin Community College
Elgin, Illinois

 

With a third of Elgin’s matriculating students not meeting key college readiness benchmarks, the college stands out for its exceptional services and success in bringing students up to speed academically. Elgin Community College has an enrollment of 17,000 students, a quarter of whom come from low-income backgrounds.

 

By building on its partnership with Achieving the Dream, which assists community colleges in prioritizing improvements and tracking results, Elgin Community College is beating the odds. The college is retaining and graduating its students at rates far higher than the national averages for community colleges. 

 

Elgin Community College is also strongly committed to serving its local community through offering open-door unemployment services, high school courses and local financial literacy courses. The college uses nine types of ACT WorkKeys® assessments to provide career preparation to both students and unemployed community members. The college’s unemployment services coordinator serves more than 100 unemployed individuals each month, 60 percent of whom are over the age of 50.

 

Employer
Crossland Construction Company
Columbus, Kansas

 

“We actively promote the [ACT WorkKeys] test at all schools and recruiting events. In the 2014–2015 school year, we made funding available to all high schools in Cherokee County, Kansas, to give their seniors the Work Readiness exam.” 

- Nathan Kubicek, Crossland Academy

 

Crossland is one of the largest family-owned commercial construction companies in the country and is  committed to helping its employees advance in their careers by clearly outlining and supporting their career paths and helping them develop corresponding skills and certifications.

 

Crossland is also a minority-owned business and has 1,100 employees in eight offices across six states in the Midwest and Texas. Since 2004, the company has provided more than 900 internships and over $1 million in tuition assistance to area college students, and it uses the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™ to identify employees and interns for recruitment and mentoring opportunities. Crossland is also involved in K–12 education efforts and has sponsored the If I Had a Hammer program, which has taught applied math to over 1,000 students in southeast Kansas.