When young people get personal letters from the Mayor of Houston, it can encourage them to work harder in school.  That’s the cornerstone of the Commit to Graduate project.

Mayor Bill White sends a letter to each ninth-grader stressing the importance—for themselves and their city—of getting a high school diploma. The lesson is both civic and plain “dollars and cents.”

The Mayor writes, “Working hard in school can earn you the freedom to make your own decisions about your life after graduation.”

White asks for them to fill out and return a simple card pledging to stay in school. In the years since the program began in 2005,  the mayor has received more than 19,500 cards from students, all of them committing to continue pursuing their diplomas.

Students may experience exciting activities by committing to stay in school. These could be courtside seats at a Houston Comets game. They could mean an invitation backstage at a Beyoncé concert, or up-close encounters with NBA All-Star Legends.

When you find a singing sensation or seven-foot basketball great looking up to you, it shows that the community genuinely cares about you and your commitment to graduate.

Letters from the Mayor and Commitment Cards are not printed or mailed at taxpayer expense.