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Aug 11, 2006

UNMOTIVATED STUDENTS, HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS FIND OTHER OPTIONS

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Shana Leonard

MTV News Online

Lights out is at 9 p.m. A strict schedule is enforced by the barking commands of drill sergeants. And the latrines don’t clean themselves. But 17-year-old Michael Cosme couldn’t be happier to be here.

As part of the National Guard Youth Challenge program, Cadet Cosme is getting a second chance at a successful future after dropping out of high school. Cosme and others like him don’t feel engaged by traditional schooling. But nontraditional educational options can prepare these disenchanted teens for the real world with schooling that goes beyond brick walls.

Many of the estimated 1.2 million students who failed to graduate this year have a life of crime, teenage pregnancy and minimum wage waiting for them, according to statistics (see “More Than A Million Didn’t Graduate High School This Year"). But the future doesn’t have to be so bleak.
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