At Exelon, we believe educational achievement is the difference between economic isolation and economic opportunity for all citizens. We also know that no one entity alone can impact academic achievement. As a leader in the business community, we are committed to forging new collaborations, like The Exelon-United Way Stay in School Initiative, to prepare students to become the diverse and capable workforce needed to drive tomorrow’s economy. Because of its success, Exelon is the proud recipient of the prestigious 2007 Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership.
Our investments in education, nearly $13 million in the past three years, promote math and science education, encourage students to stay in school, and enhance the quality of education in at-risk urban communities. Our commitment goes beyond our financial contributions. Since 2006, employees have invested more than 17,000 hours of quality time with young people through tutoring and mentoring programs, violence-and drug- prevention programs, recognition activities, sports training, scouting, and other meaningful volunteer work.
Exelon’s leadership platform is to build collaborations to address key issues in Chicago’s underserved communities. We have been successful in creating vital public-private partnerships that are achieving Mayor Richard M. Daley’s agenda of improving education.
Exelon’s Stay in School Initiative, the signature corporate citizenship program in our Energy for Education portfolio, has shown significant community impact. Its first comprehensive “report card,” issued recently for the 2006-7 school year, shows that students are achieving success in school, and they are graduating at a rate that is 31% higher than Chicago’s average. We believe we have a master plan to make the grade in education.
Nearly half of Chicago’s public school freshmen do not graduate from high school in four years.
Exelon’s Stay in School program is a successful collaboration with the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago (UWMC) and three community agencies, BUILD, Inc., Centers for New Horizons and Youth Guidance. It takes a holistic approach to Chicago’s dropout issue. Our goal is to ensure that students in underserved communities have an equal chance to build the academic skills needed to achieve sustainable success. Since its inception, Stay in School has served roughly 5,000 students from Chicago’s Austin, Bronzeville/Grand Boulevard and Humboldt Park neighborhoods, where dropout and truancy rates are among the city’s highest.
With $1 million in funding from Exelon, Stay in School delivers a comprehensive menu of programs for students and their families. It involves parents in the solution, coordinates services with the schools and provides a range of services from intervention outreach, after-school tutoring, study groups and social services, to skills development such as problem solving, communications and relationship-building. In its inaugural school year of 2004-2005, all 991 participating students remained in school or graduated.
Employee volunteers have dedicated 2,000 hours to Stay in School through several programs that focus on student development. The Stay in School Mentoring Workshop Series is a program that teaches students valuable career-building skills, features discussion with community role models, and culminates in an interview session offering students six paid internships at Exelon and our partners. Employees celebrate student’s academic success through Exelon-sponsored recognition activities. Students have been publicly congratulated at ball games; they have attended cultural events, enjoyed special meetings with executives and have been profiled in the news and in Exelon’s internal publications. Additionally, employees provide the muscle and know-how to make repairs and improvements to facilities of our partnering agencies.
Report card shows strong impact. This year, UWMC issued its first-ever Stay in School Report Card, measuring the program’s impact on keeping students on track for graduation and building support systems for academic achievement. The results for the program’s core participants – those students who are using the broadest ranges of services – point to the overwhelming success of the collaboration:
- 85% graduated from high school or completed their GEDs. The city’s average graduation rate is 54%
- 92% of Stay in School students were promoted to the next grade level
- 75% had a school attendance rate of at least 90% for the academic year. Attendance is a key indicator of graduation.
- 68% increased pro-social behaviors.
- 52% improved at least one grade in core courses.
Exelon has brought the Stay in School concept beyond the boundaries of Chicago, partnering on similar projects with agencies in Rockford and Freeport, Illinois, and in Philadelphia and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania.
More information about Exelon's Stay in School program. |
Exelon and ComEd volunteers participate in a group activity during a
Stay in School mentoring workshop.
Shekeiva Turner, a student living in the West Humboldt Park community of Chicago, discusses success traits with mentor Meg Amato, corporate relations manager at Exelon.
Exelon hosts a pre-game parade at Cellular Field before a Chicago White Sox game to honor students in the Stay in School program.
Roderick Douglas and Exelon/ComEd volunteer Maurice Nutall discuss an assignment during an Exelon Stay in School mentoring workshop.
Through Exelon’s recognition program in the Stay in School Initiative, students enjoy back-stage time with celebrity musician Wynton Marsalis, after attending a master class with the musician.
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