June 24: MTV Networks offer Waukegan casting call

If you are age 17-20 and dropped out of high school, MTV Networks would like to interview you at a casting event to be held from noon to 4 p.m. on June 24 at the Waukegan Public Library, 128 County St. in downtown Waukegan.

The network is seeking participants for a new TV program that will feature 20 students interested in the chance to become excited about school again. MTV is seeking students who are outgoing, open for new challenges and comfortable sharing their story on camera. Positive in approach, the show focuses on the students not as drop-outs but as people who are motivated to change their lives.

Co-sponsored by PASS (Positive Alternative Student Services) of the Lake County Regional Office of Education and the College of Lake County (CLC), the June 24 event will include a mini-resource fair in addition to the MTV casting call. Before or after participating in a 10-minute interview with MTV staff, attendees will have the opportunity to speak with staff and alumni from organizations such as CLC, YouthBuild, Youth Conservation Corps and Family Literacy to learn about options for completing high school and entering the work force.

The young adults participating in the MTV interviews will be asked to explain why they left school and what hopes and dreams they have for their future. Some of the attendees will also be interviewed for a local Lake County show “A Time for Change,” which airs on Comcast Cable and will soon air on Lake County TV.

The Lake County groups are participating in the MTV event as part of their work to reduce the school drop-out rate, according to Michele Vaughn, CLC associate dean of community education.

In May, the Regional Office of Education, the North Chicago Community Chapter of SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) and YouthBuild held one of the nation's 100 White House Young American Roundtables, which included a discussion of the drop-out problem. PASS and the Lake County ROE are also coordinating the 23rd Annual National Dropout Prevention Conference, to be held Oct. 9-12, 2011 in Schaumburg.

The Lake County groups hope to tie the White House roundtables, MTV event, the National Dropout Prevention Conference together in developing solutions to the drop-out problem, Vaughn said.

For more information please contact: Cherrivon Lloyd, outreach specialist, Lake County Regional Office of Education, at (847) 223-3400 ext. 222 or clloyd@lake.k12.il.us. Or contact Michele Vaughn, associate dean for Community Education, College of Lake County, at (847) 543-2153 or mvaughn@clcillinois.edu.