BoostUp, one of the Ad Council’s programs that focuses on dropout prevention reports that 4 out of every 10 high school students in America don’t graduate from high school. At the completion of the 2007-08 academic year in Virginia, approximately eighteen percent of 97,007 students, that were supposed to be on-time graduates, did not earn a diploma. At this rate, it doesn’t appear that we will likely reach ambitious NCLB goals in just 4 to 5 short years. Community members, parents, educators, political leaders and others must decide to be a part of the solution and act aggressively!
No one wants to fail, dropout or be unsuccessful. The reality of life happens and young people often feel compelled to make a decision based upon the short-term rather than the long-term solution. As stakeholders, we must identify when and how the road begins to turn for so many young people that don’t complete high school successfully. Once the pitfalls and potholes along the K-12 educational journey have been identified, we must change those things that must and can be changed immediately.
The solution to addressing the nation’s dropout problem doesn’t involve a magic wand, Aladdin’s Lamp or silver bullet. As a new doctoral student at Virginia Tech, I would like to identify practical solutions that effectively address a targeted issue that causes young people to take “dead end” detours along their educational journey.
By: Gayle Graves on February 17, 2009 
Scenic Roanoke is located in the southwestern portion of the state of Virginia. The "Star City", as it is often called, is one of the largest metropolitan areas and transportation hubs that is located between the Blue Ridge and Alleghaney Highlands.
(Not pictured above)