The Works Family Foundation’s investment in Humboldt students’ higher education has the power to be truly transformational. It will change lives, allowing youth to pursue their dreams and consider paths they had previously thought unrealistic.
The core belief — that Humboldt’s youth are worth it — is inspiring. For far too long, higher education has been sold as something just for rich kids. The specters of debt and potential unemployment have scared off generations of area kids from careers as engineers, dentists, teachers and computer scientists.
No longer. The Humboldt Promise brings freedom. Freedom for kids and their families to dream big, embrace the unknown, and explore a big, beautiful world. Kitchen table conversations about higher education will no longer be shortened to money talk. Instead, parents can ask children about their passions, interests, and dreams. We know this is how young adults find careers they find worthwhile.
A school district as a whole benefits when every single student knows they have a solid way to attend post-secondary education. Teachers will see new urgency in what they teach. Parents will almost certainly be more involved in their children’s education.
And the wider Humboldt community stands to gain so much. The Humboldt Promise will attract families to town — and keep them there. It sends a message: this town is worth investing in. The ripple effects will improve civic life in countless ways.
FOR THOSE of us in other school districts, Humboldt’s promise is a call to rise to the occasion.
The data is clear: in today’s changing world, a high school education is not enough for a secure future.
Across the United States, higher education is tied to greater earnings, better health, and lower unemployment. Adults today can expect to change careers, and they must have advanced skills to navigate those transitions.
The Works Family Foundation sees that. It’s incumbent upon the rest of us to do the same. It’s only human to be green with envy. “If only we had a foundation like that in our town,” we can say, bemoaning our fate, resigned to lesser lives.
But that’s not right. And it’s not fair to our children.
The Humboldt Promise shows unwavering belief in Humboldt youth.
All kids deserve such faith, and it’s all too possible for us to believe in our students just as strongly.
It’s possible for our districts to be laser-focused on higher education, too, to relentlessly insist from day one that high school is a stepping stone, not a finish line.
We can invest the necessary resources so that every student has an opportunity to pursue their dreams. We can educate parents about financial aid and scholarships. Our districts can help build a culture where higher education is an expected part of the journey.
And we must set our sights on our elected leaders in Topeka. Humboldt’s promise is not meant to rob legislators of their duty: invest in Kansans. We must demand they fulfill that responsibility so that technical schools, community colleges and universities across our great state are adequately funded and truly affordable.
Humboldt’s promise is a call to action. Let us be just as bold in meeting the moment.
