Finishing high school in Montana

Melissa Johnson starts every morning at Butte High School with a solid hour of telephone calls.

As the new graduation coach, Johnson said raising attendance is a big part of the battle to get kids to earn a diploma.

"You need to call them in the morning to get them out of bed," she said in her office just off the library at Butte High this week.

At other times, Johnson has driven around town and picked kids up to get them to class. She said once they’re in school, kids will stick around and do fine in class.

It’s working – at least for a handful of kids who said they were on the verge of dropping out before they started to get those regular phone calls, as well as other help with school work.

By Nick Gevock of The Montana Standard

Full Story: http://mtstandard.com/news/local/finishing-high-school/article_57114f2c-5ac5-11e1-823e-001871e3ce6c.html