Solano Named One of 100 Best Communities for Young People

Solano Named One of 100 Best Communities for Young People
By Reporter Staff
TheReporter.Com

The Alliance for Youth announce this morning that Solano County is a winner of a national competition to identify the "100 Best Communities for Young People."
The 100 Best competition honors communities across America for their commitment to provide healthy, safe and caring environments for young people. This marks the second year in a row that Solano has won the honor. More than 1,000 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands took part in the competition.

Solano County is one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People because of the caring community and collaboration among schools, cities, businesses and county agencies to support our children and youth, organizers of the competition said. The Solano County Office of Education submitted the application after assembling a team of educators, county agencies, such as Children's Network and Health and Social Services, community members and students working in partnership to raise awareness of the resources, programs, training and opportunities available to the county's youth as well as the physical, civic and education needs of these children.

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Reagan is ecstatic to see the recognition.

"For the second year in a row Solano County has verified why it is one of America's 100 Best Communities for young people," he noted in a press release. "This award highlights how multi-faceted our community is and how many exceptional programs we have in place."

Saying that this year's emphasis on education in the award "shines right up there with the health initiatives for children that won us the award last year."

One of the critical grading criteria for this award is demonstrating how committed partners and individuals from all sectors of the community work effectively toward shared goals and plans.

"Solano County can be proud that once again we are being recognized nationally for our partnerships. We see time and time again across the county where collaborative efforts - large and small - work to get the job done," Reagan said.

"Nothing is more important than seeing that our children and youth have the resources and support systems they need to thrive and succeed," said America's Promise Founding Chairman General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.). "When a community provides all that its young people need to be healthy and secure, they deserve to be honored and showcased as an outstanding example of what it takes to successfully nurture this nation's young people."

100 Best Communities for Young People was first launched in 2005 by General Powell in partnership with Capital One Financial Corporation. Other members of America's Promise Alliance - including United Way of America, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Big Brothers Big Sisters, National Association of Counties and the American Association of School Administrators and many others - took leading roles in encouraging communities to compete in the 100 Best competition.

"We are delighted that Solano County won the distinction of being among the 100 Best Communities for Young People for the second year in a row. This national recognition confirms the commitment our community has to its children and youth to provide the best education opportunities possible along with safe places to learn and prepare our youth to enter the workforce to keep our economy strong," said Solano County Superintendent of Schools Dee Alarc n. "It is quite an honor for Solano County to be in the national spotlight again as an outstanding community with innovative efforts that benefit children and youth."

For a complete list of winners or more details about the 100 Best competition, visit www.americaspromise.org. And for a full report on the Solano award, see tomorrow's print edition of The Reporter.