WORTHINGTON — At the community dialogue Sunday, there were some real stories and some real tears.

And, organizers hope, some real ways to raise graduation rates in Nobles County and throughout the state.

The nearly 100 attendees of all ages at the Nobles County Integration Collaborative event were asked to brainstorm “concrete” ways to improve student success at the family, school and community level.

They all seemed to hit the same wall. They already knew getting parents and the community involved was vital — they just didn’t know how.

One woman suggested parents call the parents of their child’s classmates, even becoming a parent figure for those children who lacked strong role models. Many advocated having a family meal time or other time set aside for parents to discuss school related issues with their children.

Bill Knigge, whose children are now in college, said he always tried to show interest in his children’s school days and attend their events, especially because his own parents did not. Still, he sees the challenge.

“I own my own business, so we could do it, but I could see if I’d been working we couldn’t have,” he said.

“Being here and doing homework are the two main things,” said Jan Larson, a counselor at Worthington High School. “(Parents) can take advantage of programs like the PASS (Parents Advocating for Students’ Success) program.”

With respect to programs, added Gioconda Armstrong, it’s important that parents understand what resources are available to them and their children.

“We need education for parents in this community. Many parents haven’t been able to have higher education themselves. If they do want to help they don’t know the process,” she said.

To that end, one group suggested using the community’s public access channel to communicate academic information to parents. Another group suggested setting up computers at common workplaces like Swift and Co. that would link directly to a parent portal where parents could check their student’s grades and look into discipline problems.

Discussion also focused on showing students their options for the future, perhaps providing scholarships or job shadowing programs for students, or inviting businesses into the schools to present different career paths.

Before the small group discussions, James Gambone, author of the book “Together for Tomorrow: Creating Community Through Intergenerational Dialogue,” mediated a panel discussion centered around the story of Juan, a former Worthington High School student. Juan was a Mexican immigrant who was talented in math, but fell in with the wrong crowd and started struggling academically. In Juan’s case, it was his girlfriend who challenged him to quit wasting his talents and get back on track. Gambone said all generations agreed that a situation like Juan’s required out of the box thinking and intervention from parents, school and the community.

“No one group can really do it themselves,” he said.

And one by one, attendees from each generation told similar stories.

“A lot of the younger people were saying that they knew a lot of kids like Juan. In one case it took a teacher…. A student had dropped out and came back six years later and contacted that teacher and said ‘I’m now ready to get my degree,’” Gambone said. “There was another young woman who was ready to drop out and her church became her support group.”

As for generational differences, Gambone said the Baby Boomer generation tended to think the educational system would come up with a solution while younger generations argued that a peer-to-peer response might be more effective. Overall, the responses were very moving, Gambone said.

“I’ve done a lot of these and I though this one in terms of honesty of what people said was one of the best…. People ended up applauding the answers because they were so good and that rarely happens in a dialogue.”