Northfield Named One of the Nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People

Northfield achieved national recognition as one of America’s Promise Alliance’s 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING for its initiatives to help young people.

The competition recognizes communities across the country that focus on reducing high school dropout rates and providing service and support to their youth.

Northfield will receive a $2,500 grant, signage identifying the community as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People, and access to America’s Promise Alliance’s community development resources.

As a three-time 100 Best winner, Northfield offers a variety of programs and opportunities for its youth to be involved and serve as leaders in the community.

A few of the reasons why Northfield is recognized among the 100 Best is because the community distributes food to families in need through its ; encourages success in school through a variety of free after school and summer programs; and offers a wide number of mentoring opportunities to youth of all ages.

Northfield’s dedication to education is evident in its overall graduation rate, which exceeds 95 percent. Additionally, the Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes program has increased the graduation rates of Latino students in Northfield from 36 percent to more than 90 percent.

“In a nation where 7,000 students drop out of high school every day, we hope Northfield’s initiatives inspire other communities across the nation to take action to solve the challenges facing their young people,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, America’s Promise Alliance president and CEO. “Northfield is especially deserving of this recognition due to their efforts to ensure that their young people graduate high school and go on to lead healthy, productive lives. Northfield refuses to let the challenges they face determine the future for their young people. Instead, they are helping their youth prosper and become contributing members of society.”

The 100 winning communities will be announced today at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

First held in 2005, the 100 Best competition is one of the Alliance’s signature initiatives and is part of its Grad Nation campaign, which is a 10-year initiative to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce.

The 100 Best honors communities large and small, rural and urban, that are making progress to help young people achieve their potential, which includes earning a high school diploma, securing a good job, and playing an active, productive role in America’s economic vitality.

The Northfield application was organized and written by high school juniors and seniors in the Mayor’s Youth Council. The MYC is a City Council-appointed commission charged with assuring a youth voice in community decision-making.

All communities entering the 100 Best competition completed a rigorous application where they provided details on how their existing programs and initiatives help deliver the Five Promises—resources identified by the Alliance as being critical to the development of healthy, successful children: caring adults; safe places; healthy start; effective education; and opportunities to help others.

Applicants were also asked to describe how different sectors of their community work together to help children and families overcome challenges. Most importantly, communities were judged on the strength and innovation of their efforts and programs to help young people graduate from high school prepared for college and the 21st century workforce.

This year, more than 300 communities from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were nominated for the 100 Best distinction.