High school is stressful. For some, the answer is to drop out. But dropping out is not the answer to your mental health issues.
When students drop out of high school, it affects the school’s graduation rate. According to Federal Student Aid, graduation rate is “the percentage of a school’s full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking students who complete their degree or certificate within 150 percent of the published length of the program in which they are enrolled.”
A high school must meet a certain graduation rate in order for the state to be happy, otherwise, the state gets angry and may force you to do more work to get the school to do better. “The current (graduation) rate for last year, 2024, is 84.8%,” WHS principal Mr. Baumbach stated. “I would love to see it at 91% next year.” According to Michigan.gov, the state average for graduation rates was 82.8%, meaning that Wyoming just has that beat.
Mr. Baumbach is already very happy with everything that is done at our school, but seeing our graduation rate go up is something that matters very much to him. “I want to be proud of the work that we do,” he expressed. “I want our community to be proud that at Wyoming High School, we are preparing students to be successful, and if our graduation rates aren’t reflecting that, then I don’t feel good about that.” He wants everyone to know that the work we are doing is helpful and that when you enroll your student at Wyoming High School, they will be ready for the real world.
Many people think there is no good reason to drop out of high school, but there are some challenges that students face that are out of their control, causing them to drop out. According to the National Dropout Prevention Center, students may drop out because they had to support their family, needed to work, did not feel like they belonged, had failing grades, or maybe they could not keep up with school work, among many other reasons. Some of these realities cannot be changed for students, so school most likely would not be one of their top priorities when their lives may be on the line.
While dropping out may seem like a good idea at the time, it will ultimately change your life for the worse. “Without a high school diploma, the research would say that your earning power is significantly less than with a diploma or an advanced degree or certifications,” Mr. Baumbach expressed. When you aren’t making much money, you can’t afford your weekly groceries, you will have significantly more stress, and you will have a higher chance of petty theft and ending up in jail.
High school students have different reasons to not drop out of high school. Amanda Lopez-Rodriguez is a senior this year, so she feels the heavy workload and high expectations, but she is not letting that stop her. “I’ve made it this far, and I can’t leave now. I have bigger plans for the future, even though I don’t know what they are,” she states. She also acknowledges the simpler reasons to not drop out of high school. “I feel like since you get free education, so you might as well just graduate high school and at least get your diploma,” she expressed.
2024’s graduation rate may seem low compared to other schools, but there is a good reason for this. Wyoming is a school that accepts students from anywhere, no matter their current education level, if any. This means that it may take longer for students to graduate high school, which can affect our graduation rate for any given year. “That doesn’t mean that we don’t accept, we will accept and we are gonna do our darndest job to get that student to be successful but ultimately that’s going to impact our graduation rate,” Baumbach states.
Because the rate is not as high as Mr. Baumbach would like, he would like to reinforce the idea of being at school every day. According to the School of Education, “Compared to their peers who graduate, students who fail to complete their high school education are more likely to live in poverty, suffer poor health, and become involved in the criminal justice system.” Mr. Baumbach is doing this by striving to create a culture of safety and belonging so that students will want to come to school, and they will do anything they can to get to school.
Despite all of this, Mr. Baumbach is extremely proud of his staff and students who make sure to come every day they can. “So for our graduation rate, while it might not be as high as some other districts, I am still very proud of the work that happens here and our students. I think they’re great,” Baumbach stated.