“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
  — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sometimes, life can seem a bit overwhelming.

For many students who drop out of school, they make the choice to leave school because they have to make the choice between being in a classroom and aiding a sick parent, taking care of a child or earning money to keep a roof over their heads. Others know that walking into that classroom means facing bullies or gangs.

The dropout epidemic, too, can seem overwhelming.

But this blog has highlighted the amazing work that people all over the country are doing to keep kids graduating. Sometimes, a program helps thousands. Others help a handful. But each student that earns a diploma is put on the path to becoming a self-sufficient, contributing member of society. They lift not only themselves up but society as a whole.

More good news is rolling in from North Carolina.

Administrators in Buncombe County and Asheville City are excited about a decrease in dropouts in their schools, but they aren’t resting on their laurels.

The number of Buncombe County high school students dropping out fell from 380 students in 2007-2008 to 257 last year — a decrease of about 32 percent, according to an article on Citizen-Times.com.

Are you a mentor?

This January is the 12th National Mentoring Month, and it’s a great time to start making time to help a young person in your area.

The month was spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR and the Corporation for National and Community Service. The goal is to connect adult mentors with young people to help give them guidance and help in their daily lives.

The American Academy, which partners with school districts across the nation to recruit, enroll and educate children who cannot or will not attend school, today announced that it has appointed Ray Kelly as its chief executive officer and a member of the company’s board of directors. The appointment of Kelly, a seasoned, results-driven CEO with extensive education technology leadership experience, follows TAA’s record growth in 2012 and marks a major milestone in the development of the company’s groundbreaking NoDropouts program for at-risk youth.

"The American Academy has an incredible mission and faces a unique and challenging opportunity," Kelly said. "School districts need to get more students to graduation day. TAA is already working with 77 districts, and has an outstanding team of teachers, academic coaches and mentors to support the students. I am excited to be joining a growth-oriented company that has a meaningful mission, a vibrant culture and a winning philosophy."

Students in a dropout prevention program in Hartford, Conn., are going to get even more help over the next two years.

As part of AT&T’s Aspire program, the Urban League of Greater Hartford has received a $210,000 donation to help fund the program, housed at Hartford Public High School, according to an article on CTNow.com.

The program, called the Urban League’s Youth Achievement Program, focuses on providing tutoring and mentoring to struggling ninth graders. The students stay in the program through 10th grade.

Teachers, administrators, students and parents in Hanover County, N.C. have something to celebrate.

The school district’s dropout rate dropped to below 3 percent, according to an article in the StarNews.

In the last school year, only 2.26 percent of students dropped out of high school. It’s the lowest dropout rate since 2001-2002, and lower than last year’s rate of 3.88 percent.

Rocketship Education appears ready for liftoff.

John Danner, CEO of the charter school group that has seven schools currently, wants to expand to serve 1 million students in 50 cities.

In Indiana, a school may be opening by 2015, according to an article on StateImpact Indiana.

California’s Rocketship Education students, who are often poor and Latino, are outscoring their peers on standardized tests.

The trick, Danner says, is the financial and learning setup the school has.

They are our children, our neighbors' children, our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren.

And right now, by some estimates, more than a million of them decide to drop out of school each year.

The choice to drop out will lead them down a path to low-paying jobs, poorer health, an increased possibility of jail time and the likely continuation of the cycle of poverty.

Put simply: they’re being left behind.

The world is in the midst of a knowledge and information explosion, and when our youth don't get the necessary education at the elementary and high school levels, they are likely to never recover. This could prevent them from contributing to society in a positive way and living up to, much less discovering, their own potential and passions.

John Laurents is on a mission.

He wants to see every child graduate from high school, and he’s going from school to school to help make that happen.

The Charlotte, N.C., man understands what’s at stake not only for the individual students, but for society as a whole.

Some students in Louisiana aren’t taking a break from their schooling during the holidays.

Instead, they are continuing to work toward graduation through the NoDropouts program, which is offered by the educational services company The American Academy, which also sponsors this blog.