For National Dropout Awareness Month, Goodwill's Indianapolis Metropolitan High School is promoting awareness of the challenges students face that may lead to them leaving school before they graduate. This challenge is so great, Lebron James, an NBA all-star, recently created a new school in Ohio called I Promise, designed to help at-risk youths. Indianapolis Metropolitan High School has been serving students since 2004, providing the additional support, guidance and wraparound services that are necessary for success.

Getting an education does not come easy for everyone. Situations that we cannot control, such as family illness or relocating for employment, impact many individuals’ academic progress.

In 2010, Goodwill opened The Excel Center®, a public charter school for adults who want to earn an Indiana Core 40 diploma. The Excel Center is designed to address educational barriers and to accelerate coursework and career readiness through academic and life coaching, free onsite child care for young children, transportation assistance, flexible scheduling, accelerated (8-week) terms and year-round classes.

Students enrolled at The Excel Center can also earn free college credits and industry-recognized certifications.

In June 2018, Mercedes Cantrell, 22, graduated from The Excel Center in Shelbyville with a high school diploma. A mother to a young son, Cantrell now looks toward the future with hope. Read the speech she gave during her commencement ceremony below to learn more about her story.

Goodwill’s Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, a best-fit charter school for teens experiencing circumstances that may become barriers to education, recently celebrated its graduating class of 2018. The graduation rate for the school is up 45% over last year.

“Three lessons that I learned in school are that George Washington fought Cornwallis in the Battle of Charleston, not to take things for granted and never give up.”

“If I do it, then you have to do it, too.” These were the last words Courtney Messer had said to her mom, Misty Weikel, before they both enrolled at The Excel Center in August of 2013.

Born in California, Leticia Ibarra finished middle school before her family relocated to Mexico.

Courtney McCowan did not expect to drop out of high school only three months away from graduation. However, when she became pregnant with her first child, her health became her top priority.

The Excel Center, a unique high school that provides adults the opportunity to earn a Core 40 diploma, plans to celebrate surpassing 3,000 graduates at its winter graduation ceremonies on February 15 and 16. Having opened its first location in 2010, The Excel Center has seen consistent growth, including the expansion to 12 locations throughout central and southern Indiana.

In 2010, Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana recognized that over half-a-million adults in Indiana lacked a high school diploma. Having already opened Indianapolis Metropolitan High School in 2004, a public charter school for traditional-aged students that focuses on college and career pathways, Goodwill was well positioned to meet this challenge.