Kristyn Conner spoke to the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club.
Dick Kroese
Kristyn Connor, Development Coordinator for Youth on Their Own (YOTO), spoke at SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club recently and gave us some information that few of us knew little about. Students served in the 2009/2010 school year were 492. In the 2015/2016 school year they served 1,588 students. We have over 100 youth served right here in Catalina and over 5,600 homeless students in Pima County. Arizona ranks No. 4 in the nation for high school dropouts. Each dropout costs Tucson $382,900 over a lifetime due to lost wages. By graduating 387 students in 2014/2015, YOTO saved the state of Arizona $163 million. The unemployment rate of Arizonans with less than a high school education is 18.2%. 75% of our state prison inmates are high school dropouts as are 59% of inmates in the federal system. One other shocking fact is that four out of 10 young adults lacking a high school diploma are on government assistance. This is why YOTO is so important to our community. We were all overwhelmed by the information that she imparted.