By Angel Perkins News-Mirror Editor
Data collected and presented to the school board on what Triton students do after graduation is promising, as more of them are furthering their education. Motivation to pursue professional career goals appears to be high. Fifty-one percent of 2007’s 65 graduates went on to continue their education at a four-year college (5 percent more than the previous five-year average).
“When you consider that in the United States, approximately one-third of the jobs available require a four-year college degree or greater, 51 percent seems fairly good,” said Triton Jr. Sr. High School Guidance Counselor Hugh Rettinger. “It is also important to note that when you look at all forms of post-secondary education (which includes two-year colleges, vocational and technical schools and the military), in addition to four-year colleges, 66 percent of the class of 2007 are furthering their education. When two-thirds of a graduating class are seeking additional education beyond high school, I think that speaks well of the class' desire and motivation to better themselves.”

With earned grants, loans and other funding programs, the state of Indiana is showing more graduates going to college than ever before. Programs implemented across the state (as well as in Triton schools), address students as soon as they begin seventh grade in educating them on what they can do about their future, what resources are available and what careers they might want to pursue.
While overall, the number of Triton graduates continuing to educate themselves beyond the high school level is rising, two-year college and vocational or technical school pursuits are lower than in the past five year average, with two-year colleges falling from 12 percent to 9 percent and vocational and technical schools, from an eight percent, five-year average to three percent.     
For the military, advancement in education utilized by local graduates fell only slightly, from a 4.5 percent average to three percent. “The 25 percent going straight into employment is the same as the five-year average of the preceding graduating classes,” he said. “Homemaker (1.5 percent) and  unemployed (6 percent from the preceding five years’ average of 4.5 percent) categories are slightly higher on the other hand,” Rettinger explained.
For those who chose not to continue any type of further education, their motives may have been either to earn a full-time income as soon as is possible or because they couldn’t afford to pay for further education. “Some go to work with the desire to earn money and then go to college because there is little or no parent financial support to help send them to college,” Rettinger said. “Others go to work because they want to establish their independence and live on their own—which of course takes money. Finally, some are simply tired of education and see work as a welcome variation from what they have been involved with for the past 12 years.”
For Triton, with enrollment steadily rising (up from 586 to 600 at the elementary level), the success of Triton children’s futures is encouraging. The number of successful persons that came from the area should produce successful leaders of tomorrow that parents and their community can take pride in.
    For more information, check www.doe.state.in.us.

or the initiative Know How 2 Go Indiana at www.knowhow2goindiana.org and Learn More Indiana offers a variety of resources including easy-to-read publications, an interactive Web site (www.learnmoreindiana.org) and a toll-free Helpline (1-800-992-0276).