Louisville, Kentucky
Overview
As a fourth-time
100 Best winner
, Louisville provides an outstanding place for young people to grow because of its commitment to improving local education programs to support young readers, college preparation initiatives and promotion of youth volunteering. Louisville’s 55,000 Degrees program supports the long-term, targeted plan to raise education attainment by 40,000 bachelor’s degrees and 15,000 associate’s degrees by 2020. Louisville also helps youth strengthen leadership skills through the Youth Summit, which provides young people from 40 different schools the opportunity to share input about local programs and services that directly affect them. Meanwhile, the city and Louisville Urban League have recruited youth to organize an education summit and festival recognizing outstanding youth for their accomplishments and volunteer service.
Community Programs
- The 55,000 Degrees program supports efforts to raise the college graduation rate by 40,000 bachelor’s degrees and 15,000 associate’s degrees by 2020.
- The Youth Summit brought together young people from more than 40 schools to share input about local programs and services.
- Every1Reads has recruited more than 11,000 volunteers in its effort to support struggling readers in schools.
- Freshmen academies and smaller learning communities at Jefferson County Public Schools help students to find their career path.
- The Youth Opportunities Showcase offers an opportunity for thousands of young people to sign up for summer volunteering and jobs at local organizations.
Youth Voices
Local clubs puts on events throughout the school year to help teens to grow and be better people. At one event, the club brought in women and men prisoners to tell their stories about where they messed up so we wouldn’t make the same mistakes.
—Amanda
After I got stuck in bad ways and lost hope, I started to volunteer at nursing homes in Louisville and work at Central State Hospital. I learned later about Y.O.U. (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) Career Center, which enables me to get my GED and continued the push to further my education.
—Breana