The Push for 40: Where are we now?

Those of you following along know that Academy of Hope is pushing for 40 graduates this year.  If you've been following us on Twitter or on the Push for 40 page, you may have noticed that we've been at 20 graduates for a while now.  So what's been going on? Have we given up hope?

The answers to these questions are, "a lot," and "of course we haven't!"

AoH has been busy place: We were awarded a national accreditation; held graduation ceremony; celebrated 25 years at the Hope Ball and Bee; built a program in Ward 8; and celebrated the retirement of our co-founder Marja Hilfiker. (You can read about all of this in the upcoming Summer newsletter)

Ten students have graduated since our last update, with the total now reaching 30 graduates so far this year.  We are also nearing the 400th graduate in Academy of Hope's history (398 so far!)  26 graduates were honored at our graduation ceremony in June.

More numbers:
Of the 30 graduates so far 15 are men and 15 are women. 15 students passed the GED test from our normal program; 9 passed the GED test from our Strive for Success intensive program; and 6 completed the requirements to receive a high school diploma through the External Diploma Program.

Of course, numbers aren't everything, so keep following the Push for 40 for more personal insights into our student's journeys to graduation.