Who believed in you?

As most of us have heard, Nevada is currently ranked last in the nation for high school graduation. Even more pronounced is the decline in job opportunities and new business development that until very recently had us flourishing. Well, we're still here, faced with new challenges and an opportunity to turn this situation into another of the rebirths Las Vegas is best known for.

Being at the bottom, infamous -- an adjective we've mingled with in the past -- for, in some areas, producing more dropouts than graduates, we have many eyes pointing at us. The ace up our sleeve is that Las Vegas thrives on attention; so if history can be repeated, the moment to design our own path to achievement for our students and our economy is now.

The Alliance for Education reports that more than 23,900 students did not graduate from Nevada high schools in 2010, and the lifetime earnings lost from that class of dropouts alone totals more than $6.2 billion. The impact dropouts have on our economy affects everything from wages, tax revenue and productivity to higher health care costs, welfare and crime.

We are at the bottom, but we are not alone. The whole country has recovery on the menu and the common challenge is how to improve the outlook for America's students. Even those of us who have lived here for awhile may not quite grasp what was happening to education while Southern Nevada experienced its most recent boom.

Our swift population growth required us to build schools at a rapid rate to serve new students and mitigate class size. Meanwhile, we were supported by a market that made it attractive for students to work in fields that didn't require a high school diploma. Times were good, and our perpetuating success was masking an increasing problem.

We now have a community fully stocked with capable students, but we've failed them in demonstrating the value of education. The U.S. Department of Education reported a 51.3 percent graduation rate for Nevada's class of 2008. The implications of this statistic are dire for our youth and our community.

It goes without saying that quality education from our schools and parent engagement are critical to student success, but there is a third part of the equation being overlooked: one where businesses partnered with community-based organizations can design a new workforce for Southern Nevada. In other words, we have the most work to do and, guess what, you can help.

The first step may have already been done for us. Before the recession, we didn't necessarily value all work. We certainly gave acclaim to the lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs and executives that made the big bucks and drove the best cars. Now, in the face of massive unemployment and dramatic economic losses, the good that may come out of this can be a new perspective that values all work.

Second, is another change of outlook that won't be difficult and isn't nearly as painful. We have to believe in our kids.

We can change our assumptions of failure in that Nevada is the worst place to live, work and send our kids to school. Our students aren't deaf to what is being said. They're smart. They can instill a theme through all of the talks about their socioeconomic whereabouts and psychological makings to a conclusion that, when asked why they drop out of school, they have said, "You don't expect us to succeed."

"The best way to cut the deficit is to cut dropouts. That's how we make our money back," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.

We can multitask our efforts by changing our expectations, telling them that they can succeed and showing them what their adult lives will look like. We can believe in them.

On Feb. 2, Project 5000 Kids paired 3,127 students with 90 Southern Nevada business locations to host the largest Job Shadow Day effort in the nation. Participating companies included Station Casinos, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, the city of Henderson, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Desert View Hospital in Pahrump.

"One of the most important things we can do for our youth is to demonstrate how important education is to achieving career success and one of the best ways we can do this is by connecting them with successful business people," said Ken Lobene, director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Las Vegas office, and chair of the Workforce Connections Youth Council. A huge success, the day proved that the local business community cares and is committed to working for our kids.

As mentioned, we've got a lot of students, they're listening to us, and, by changing the dialogue, they will respond with confidence.

Third step. Give them a direction to follow.

Last month at the America's Promise GradNation Summit, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "The best jobs and fastest growing firms, whether in biosciences, technology, manufacturing, trade or entertainment, will gravitate to countries, communities and states with a highly qualified workforce."

In Southern Nevada, we can seize an opportunity for our economy by building our students a career-readiness culture. The business community bears the costs of unemployment, operating under decreased spending, suffering from the dropout crisis in trying to find a skilled workforce from the local pool and struggling to attract qualified and knowledgeable employees with underperforming schools for their kids.

A report released by America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises and Johns Hopkins University's Everyone Graduates Center signifies that, "By 2020, three-quarters of all jobs in America will be high-pay and high-skill with 123 million Americans needed to fill those jobs. However, at current high school and college graduation rates, only 50 million Americans are expected to qualify for them.

Jobs that do not require a high school diploma and a postsecondary credential are quickly disappearing, and Americans who hold them are not likely to enter or remain in the middle class. With a need for a skilled workforce, supporting career readiness is just good business and is a more progressive solution than having to compensate for deficiencies in existing employee proficiency with supplemental training in critical thinking, problem solving, adaptability, communication and interpersonal skills, as well as relevant technical aptitude.

Our dropout crisis is a national epidemic and the states that are making progress have involved the business community, which has the ability to highlight the economic impacts of low high school graduation rates and can connect education in the classroom to the skills and knowledge needed to make students employable. Put simply, businesses have the means and motivation to tell us what they want from our next graduating class.

This summer, Project 5000 Kids invites Southern Nevada's local businesses to provide work experiences for students ages 14 to 21. Sponsoring a student in a four-, six- or eight-week internship will give hands-on exposure to what work really looks like. These will be experiences they can take back to school in the fall with a renewed sense of understanding about the doors open to them when they complete high school and aim for career success. Similarly, students can explore fields of interest and receive on-the-job training they can put on a resume.

"Project 5000 Kids is not just here to give you a job and send you on your way. It is a program designed to give you the necessary tools for making it in the business world and the drive to help you pursue higher education," said Corey Hewett, a Project 5000 Kids intern.

Founded in 2010, Project 5000 Kids (P5K) is a year-round, communitywide movement dedicated to help increase Nevada's graduation rate by creating meaningful work experiences and pathways to career readiness for Southern Nevada's students.

We all had someone who believed in us, someone who took a chance, gave us our first break and contributed to the person we are today. By giving students the opportunity to see what the workplace really looks like, businesses and their employees can be that voice without ever having to leave the office.

Partnering with Project 5000 Kids to provide internship opportunities has incentives in both the short and the long term. Supporting students can help strengthen a company or organization's brand as good corporate citizens. Students can provide vacation coverage, filling staffing gaps to help keep things running smoothly through the busy summer months. Many students return to work for their hosts after high school, already familiar with the culture and processes of the organization. They bring diversity to local businesses, fulfilling an important workforce objective for many companies. Hosting students also benefits individual employees by affording them the opportunity to engage in training and mentoring students, applying their skills to the development of future careers.

A students with an idea about what they might want to do when they leave school can translate what they are exposed to into reality and put themselves on a path to that goal. It gives them guidance to make their own decisions, while supporting our collective success by recruiting the workforce of the future just as they are making important decisions about their careers. All it takes to start the process is an open door.

Part of a larger effort by Workforce Connections, an agency that oversees the implementation of federal funding for employment, training and services throughout the Southern Nevada Workforce Investment Area, Project 5000 Kids represents a turning point in our commitment to education, serving the immediate needs of youth while facilitating long-term gains for the local economy and the welfare of the community.

While things were looking up, the growth of the Las Vegas Valley contributed a continuous supply of new workers attracted by career advancement opportunities and new, affordable homes. We all know what happened next. Right now, with our supply of workers far outnumbering our job vacancies, we can't be passive and wait until job openings rematerialize. Our supply of workers can instead become an attractive asset. But it only works if they're ready to work in the 21st century.

Serving Clark, Lincoln, Nye and Esmeralda counties, Workforce Connections is actively engaged in transitioning Southern Nevada's workforce from job seekers to a qualified workforce that will support and attract business and fuel the future of our state. With input from the business community, it is eager to translate new demands into actions that will supply training and readiness through apprenticeships and other market-driven strategies designed to pair competent workers with relevant employers.

What makes this a relatively new issue is not just the motivation to improve our economy. It is arguably an effect of the decline we are currently experiencing. Today's economy being much more global, we face very real competition from the international stage.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan points out, "America once led the world in the number of college graduates it produces, and now we've fallen to ninth. While our educational advancement stalled, other countries have passed us by. We need to educate our way to a better economy."

Speaking in global terms makes the solution seem harder to grasp, but progress starts at home with the application of evidence-based strategies that address local needs. With demands for opportunities and improvements increased, input and actions from employers can help turn the tables by supporting students who will in turn support them as full participants in the 21st century global economy.

Businesses, organizations and individual interested in participating in these efforts can connect and find out more about Project 5000 Kids, the Summer Work Experience program and other efforts by visiting www.project5000kids.org.

Companies and organizations currently involved include the Las Vegas Valley Water District, Jason's Deli, Pahrump Valley Times and Department of the Interior. Workforce Connections works with an array of employers, agencies and community partners that are investing in the future of our communities; it can be contacted online at www.nvworkforceconnections.org.