Former Murrieta Dropout to Share Story on PBS

A Murrieta resident will be featured as part of a PBS television segment Friday about Riverside County Office of Education's high school dropout recovery program, Come Back Kids.

Jaime Quinonez of Murrieta, , is slated to be a guest on the “Plugged Inland” show on KVCR, the region’s public television station, at 7 p.m. Friday.

“Plugged Inland” is one of KVCR’s contributions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “American Graduate” project.

The show is broadcast live with a viewer call-in segment.

Along with Quinonez, other show guests will include Debra Sacks, administrator of RCOE's Come Back Kids, and Daniel Carrillo, a senior this year at RCOE’s regional learning center in Moreno Valley.

The show, hosted by Roger Bowman, probes the school dropout crisis and explores innovative responses around the region. KVCR can be viewed on Channel 24 on some Inland cable and TV delivery systems, such as Verizon in Murrieta, or on channels 9 or 15 in Temecula.

The Come Back Kids program was created in 2008 after Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young placed a fresh priority on reducing the county’s dropout rate, said Rick Peoples, spokesperson for RCOE, in a news release.

"The goal of the program is to lure dropouts back with a less structured class environment and the promise of one-on-one help to reach their educational goals," Peoples said.

Come Back Kids had its first graduate in spring 2009. RCOE now offers the program at a dozen sites around the county.

"Graduates number in the hundreds, and Come Back Kids has been recognized with a prestigious Golden Bell Award for innovation by the California School Boards Association," Peoples said.