Why should we all care about "I Care"?

"I Care" is a public awareness campaign designed to increase the Greater Indianapolis communities' knowledge of the extremely large high school dropout rates in Marion County; and to ask community members to get involved by helping students, schools, parents and non-profits. The goal of the campaign is to increase high school graduation rates from 73 percent to 80 percent by the 2014-2015 school year.


Why should you care about the high school dropout rate in Marion County? Well there are plenty of reasons why. The dropout rates do not just affect the students themselves; they affect peers, schools, families, the business community and every individual that lives or works within the Greater Indianapolis community.

Last year there were more than 23 thousand Indiana students that did not graduate from high school. Those 23 thousand dropouts will cost Hoosiers more than 280 million dollars in health care costs over the lifetime of those students. Moreover, reducing the dropout rate is proven to help increase household income, which would increase dollars back into our local economy. The reduced cost spent on crime and increased revenue would total over 150 million dollars for Indiana.

The “I Care” campaign, which was designed by Emmis Communications and presented by State Farm Insurance, kicked-off this morning and will continue for the next three months. The campaign consists of radio ads featured on three Emmis stations - WIBC 93.1, HANK 97.1 and B105.7, testimonials from local business, non-profit and community leaders, as well as a website www.icareindy.com.

The campaign is asking for community members to get involved by joining the Student Success Team, becoming informed on the issues by signing up for the Drop-out Prevention eNewsletter, volunteering at a local school, advocating for local youth and youth issues and donating financial support to the cause.

MCCOY’s Student Success Team is devoted to ensuring that all students realize their potential and are given access to America’s Promise Alliance’s Five Promises; caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education and opportunities to help others.

To show you care, log onto www.icareindy.com and become a positive influence in raising high school graduation rates.