MINNEAPOLIS (September 01, 2010) – Keeping kids in school and engaged as active learners is the number one priority for Big Lake School District in Minnesota. The first day of the 2010-2011 school year is dedicated to Ninth Graders only and the “Transition Day” Initiative Aimed at Increasing High School Graduation. The juniors and seniors will begin their school year the following day, September 8th.

The district is making a significant investment in the area of dropout prevention by implementing the new program, “Transition Day”, that utilizes TEL.A.VISION. Going forward, the first day of high school will be completely devoted to ninth graders so they can spend the first day of school exploring the power of positive thoughts and create a vision for their life by creating and sharing TEL.A.VISION Vision Videos.

TEL.A.VISION is a web 2.0 application that contains everything a student needs to create a “vision video” of their desired future including licensed photos and music, styles, effects and simple instructions.

“Our goal with TEL.A.VISION and “Transition Day” is to get our 9th grade students focused on their futures. Both our Middle School and High School offer a complete, well-rounded education specific to the specialized needs of adolescent-aged students. We also know that a critical opportunity to engage students to stay in school is the transition period between 8th grade in middle school and 9th grade in high school,” stated Bob Dockendorf, Big Lake Principal.
“We’ve introduced the idea to our teachers and they are extremely excited to participate in this innovative project. The teachers have talked about showing the student’s videos in their classes as a way for the students to get to know each other better and for them to get to know their students better. We believe that by better knowing our student’s dreams we can do a better job of keeping them engaged in school and helping them prepare for careers and future education.”

“Students drop out because they feel no hope,” said George Johnson, founder of TEL.A.VISION. “Creating a vision video and sharing it with teachers, parents and other students allows a student to share their unique gifts and receive support to bring them into the world.”

The plight of students without a high school education is often tragic, sometimes they are unable to make a living wage and end up in low paying, unskilled jobs without growth potential.
America is faced with about 7,000 students deciding to drop out each day, that’s nearly 1.2 million students a year. This new “Transition Day” program is focused on reducing these numbers and addressing the loss to our nation of $319 billion in potential earnings these students will never earn because they dropout out school.

About Big Lake Public Schools
Big Lake Public Schools #727 incorporates an area of 64-square miles located in east central Minnesota, with a population of approximately 16,303. Big Lake Schools consist of two elementary schools, Liberty and Independence (both pre-K-5), a middle school (6-8) and a high school (9-12), with a total enrollment of 3,600, visit

http://www.biglake.k12.mn.us/education/district/district.php?sectiondetailid=1&

About TEL.A.VISION
TEL.A.VISION is a proven Web 2.0 online curriculum and website that inspires youth, especially Special Education and At Risk youth, to create and share visions of hope and
possibility through personal “vision videos.”

The result is more future orientation, more hope, more engagement and more reason to stay in school. For more information, or to create and share a vision for a better world, visit www.telavision.tv