Austin Scales, a lead educator in the 3-and 4-year-old pre-school room at Muncie’s United Day Care Center was recently named recipient of the prestigious Hoosier Educator Award at the 2026 Early Childhood Education Award ceremony in Indianapolis.

“Ninety percent of the brain is developed by age 5 and in that time, it’s like fireworks in the brain,” explains Scales, 27, whose worked at United Day Care since 2022. “During that time, the brain is rapidly growing, and children are rapidly learning. It’s a huge time to set kids up for success, for lifelong success. The things we do at United Day Care has a lasting impact on children but also on the families we’re supporting.”

Scales holds a dual bachelor’s degree in special and elementary education from Ball State University. A recipient of a scholarship from Indiana’s T.E.A.C.H. program, he is working on a master’s degree in early childhood education.

​His supervisor, Carol Johnson, Executive Director at United Day Care, nominated Scales for the award from the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children.

“Austin is everything an early childhood educator should be,” wrote Johnson. “After joining the field from his experience in elementary education and special education, Austin also came to the field with experience working with children with autism through ABA therapy and has included this in his role at United Day Care Center, creating an inclusive and developmentally appropriate classroom for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Scales says as a male educator, he’s aware of the impact he can have on young lives. “I realize there can be a stigma about male educators, but male educators are modeling in the classroom and showing how males can be nurturing and that has a huge impact on the kids and their families.”

Other award recipients were:

• Penny Zellers, Early Childhood Education Program Chair at Ivy Tech Community College-Kokomo.
• Liz Richards, Ole Miss Preschool Director, Westview Elementary, Mississinewa Community Schools.
• Kristen Lopshire, Regional Manager, Indiana Lakeshore Learning Materials
• Terri Kosik, Director, Ready to Grow St. Joe Early Childhood Coalition.

Hoosier families are looking for affordability, flexibility and safe environments for their children, according to a 2025 survey by Bright Futures Indiana.

Among respondents to the survey, 26 percent of families with a child or children under the age of 5 used
licensed or regulated care; 16 percent asked family members, friends or neighbors to care for their children; 17% use a combination and 41% do not use any kind of childcare. 

Another letter of nomination came from Emma Grace Dragoo, Assistant Director of Childcare Resources for Muncie and Delaware County BY5 Early Childhood initiative. “I was over the moon surprised; I had no idea,” Scales said when he heard the news.

Asked what he’d say to parents about the value of the childcare experience, Scales said: “I would say come into our building and let me know you. “I see these children grow by leaps and bounds when it comes to skills and confidence. It’s like night and day from the moment they walk into the classroom to the moment they leave.”
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Juli Metzger is a former educator and newspaper editor and publisher. She is Past Chair of the Indiana Youth Institute Board of Directors, Project Leadership Board of Directors, and on the C2Cmuncie.org Collaborative Action Network team.

Preparing students for good jobs is not the responsibility of a single institution. Schools cannot do it alone. Neither can higher education, employers or nonprofits. But when those sectors align around shared goals and stay focused over time, communities can shift outcomes in meaningful ways.

Across the country, local leaders are recognizing that their most valuable economic asset is their young people. Chambers of Commerce, workforce development organizations and school districts are increasingly shaping conversations about how education connects to employment and how communities can close persistent gaps between what students are learning and what employers need.

In one small Indiana town, that alignment is taking shape through Cradle to Career Muncie, a communitywide effort focused on helping more residents gain the education and training needed for stable jobs and livable wages. With the George and Frances Ball Foundation serving as the backbone organization, the initiative brings together Pre-K through 12 education, higher education, employers, nonprofits and local government around a shared vision for long-term economic mobility. 

The Cradle to Career Muncie initiative is modeled after the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, a national framework that brings together cross-sector partners to improve education and economic outcomes.

The Cradle to Career Muncie initiative is modeled after the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, a national framework that brings together cross-sector partners to improve education and economic outcomes.
It's already working.

In Muncie, reading scores are improving and graduation rates are on the rise. Since 2020, postsecondary completion rates at Ivy Tech Muncie have increased by 40 percent. At Muncie Community Schools, out-of-school suspensions are down nearly 35 percent in just two years, and third grade reading scores have climbed 14 percent since 2022.

Graduation rates tell a similar story. Since the Cradle to Career Muncie initiative launched, the district has seen a more than 10-point increase in graduation rates. The community's current target is 95 percent by 2030. 

These gains align with broader shifts in how Indiana is preparing students for life after high school. The state’s evolving graduation requirements place a growing emphasis on workforce readiness, giving students multiple ways to demonstrate preparedness beyond a traditional diploma.

Students can earn optional “readiness seals” tied to employment, enlistment or college. These seals often include work-based learning hours, demonstrations of skills such as communication and collaboration, and credentials of value, including technical certificates or industry-recognized qualifications.

Why does it matter?

By 2027, projections show that seven out of 10 jobs will require a postsecondary credential. Research by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce highlights the widening gap between what students’ study and what employers need, with geography playing a significant role in access and opportunity.  

With roughly nine million job openings nationwide and about five million unemployed individuals, the mismatch between available workers and employer needs continues to grow. Communities are increasingly recognizing that collaboration is essential to long-term economic health.

Muncie has looked to its peers for ideas.

Muncie Community Schools leaders, local government policymakers, business executives and other stakeholders have taken a number of road trips to research best practices. They found a wide array of partnerships including the Nashville school system, and their Chamber of Commerce partner, multiple nonprofit organizations, and a national partner, Ford Next Gen.

They also examined the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, widely considered one of the leading examples of a cradle-to-career approach. At its core is a focus on breaking intergenerational poverty by helping communities thrive in school, work, and life.

Melissa Jaggars, President and CEO of Alignment Nashville, has seen how the conversation has shifted. 
“Fifteen years ago, families were making decisions based on the experience they wanted their child to have,” she says. “Now they are asking about return on investment. With AI and rapid changes in technology, schools and colleges have to think more about durable skills that help students adapt over time.”

That emphasis on adaptability matters. Technical skills change. Jobs evolve. But communication, problem-solving and the ability to learn continuously remain essential.

The deeper value of cradle-to-career work extends beyond economics. It reflects how interconnected communities truly are. Families, mentors, neighbors and employers all help shape the paths young people take. Access to networks, encouragement and opportunity often shapes whether students pursue college, a skilled trade or face barriers to the next step after high school.

For places like Muncie to thrive, residents need access to education and training that leads to meaningful work and a livable wage. That foundation supports civic engagement, stability and long-term prosperity.

Cradle to Career Muncie is not a quick fix. It relies on alignment, trust and shared responsibility across an entire community. And it reflects a growing recognition nationwide: when partners move together, they can open doors that lead beyond diplomas to stability and opportunity.
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Juli Metzger is a former educator and newspaper editor and publisher. She is Chair of the Indiana Youth Institute Board of Directors, Project Leadership Board of Directors, and on the C2Cmuncie.org Collaborative Action Network team.

A community wide effort to improve student success in Muncie is gaining national attention after being highlighted in the 2025 StriveTogether Annual Report for its measurable gains in early literacy and high school graduation rates.

The report spotlights Cradle to Career Muncie, a cross-sector partnership that has aligned schools, nonprofits, higher education institutions, faith organizations and local leaders around a shared goal: improving educational outcomes and expanding economic opportunity for children and families across Delaware County. The initiative is being led by the George and Frances Ball Foundation, serving as the backbone organization for the community-wide effort.

At the center of the recognition is Muncie Community Schools’ dramatic improvement in early grade reading. During the 2024-2025 school year, districtwide reading proficiency climbed from 69.8 percent to 79.2 percent, a 9.4-percentage-point increase that outpaced statewide gains. Grissom Elementary posted one of the most significant improvements in Indiana, increasing its third-grade reading proficiency rate from 46.6 percent to 79 percent in a single year.

StriveTogether leaders described Muncie as an example of how place-based partnerships can drive long-term systems change when communities align around shared data, coordinated strategies and collective accountability. The national organization’s annual report noted that more than 70 organizations and 200 individuals participate in Cradle to Career Muncie’s work through The Opportunity Blueprint: 2030, a strategic plan shaped by more than 150 local voices.

Local leaders say the progress reflects years of intentional collaboration.

“If our kids are not reading at grade level, they will likely find it difficult to find success in math, science or social studies,” said Kortney Zimmerman, Vice President and Chief Program Officer of the George and Frances Ball Foundation and backbone staff member for Cradle to Career Muncie. “We embraced a comprehensive focus on literacy and invited everyone in - Ball State University students, churches, volunteers - because it takes the whole community.”

The partnership’s approach extended beyond classrooms. Ball State mobilized practicum students and student teachers, faith-based organizations trained volunteers, and out-of-school providers aligned programming to reinforce literacy goals. Community leaders also launched a citywide literacy campaign inspired by successful models in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, helping elevate reading as a shared community priority.

A key driver of Muncie’s success has been its use of real-time data. Unlike many communities, Muncie embedded its data team directly within the school district, allowing educators and community partners to quickly identify challenges and respond with coordinated solutions. When data revealed student mobility rates were nearly five times the state average, the district implemented a uniform instructional schedule across all elementary schools to reduce learning disruption for transferring students.

The annual report also highlighted gains in secondary education. Muncie Central High School’s graduation rate increased from 86 percent to 90 percent in 2024-25, with notable progress among student groups that have historically faced barriers. Graduation rates for Black female students reached 100 percent, while rates for Black male students climbed to 98 percent.

StriveTogether President and CEO Jennifer Blatz said the Muncie story demonstrates what can happen when communities work together around a shared vision for young people. The organization’s national network now includes 70 partnerships across 28 states focused on helping more children reach critical milestones from cradle to career.

As Muncie continues implementing The Opportunity Blueprint: 2030 strategic plan, community leaders say the work is about more than short-term academic gains. It is about building a stronger foundation for long-term economic mobility and ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Juli Metzger is a former educator and newspaper editor and publisher. She is Chair of the Indiana Youth Institute Board of Directors, Project Leadership Board of Directors, and on the C2Cmuncie.org Collaborative Action Network team.

On a Wednesday afternoon in January, a small data team in Muncie, Indiana sat down with a
group of educators and workforce leaders and laid out a number that stopped the room: 20,000.

That’s how many hours of work-based learning—internships, apprenticeships, career-connected
experiences—the Muncie area will need for freshman class of Muncie Central High School under
Indiana's new diploma requirements. One class. One small-sized city. Twenty thousand hours--
21,225 hours to be exact—that do not yet exist in any organized form.

It’s a staggering finding and early evidence of just how hard the work will be.

The number did not come from a consultant's projection or a state agency's estimate. It came
from a survey that a Muncie Community Schools' Educational Data and Outcomes team
designed, administered, and analyzed in a matter of weeks. The public school system with one
high school asked every freshman what kind of diploma they intended to pursue. They matched
those intentions against the state-mandated work-based learning requirements attached to each
diploma track.

For years, the organizations serving Muncie's students operated the way most communities do--
in parallel, occasionally in conversation, rarely in genuine coordination. A student might be
enrolled in a literacy program, receive mentorship through a youth organization, and be flagged
for additional support by a school counselor, with none of those parties aware of the others. Not
because they were indifferent but because the information infrastructure to connect them simply
did not exist.

The George and Frances Ball Foundation and its Cradle to Career Muncie initiative have given
funders a clearer view of how their dollars could make a meaningful difference. Previously,
philanthropists could fund individual programs and require end-of-year reports. What they could
not do was see how the investments fit together.

This is a central challenge of all place-based philanthropy. What makes Muncie unusual is what
happened next.

In the fall of 2022, Phil Boltz, a career educator, joined Muncie Community Schools with an
unusual mandate: build a data team that could serve not just the school district, but the entire
ecosystem of organizations working to support students and their families. The school system
was looking for ways to address chronic absenteeism and low graduation rates.