Helping Courtney and Miguel, students at Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School, figure out the steps to achieving those goals is the aim of a new after-school program at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School.

Coordinated with an existing program that gives students extra support in reading and math, this new program will partner middle school students such as Courtney and Miguel with high school students who will serve as mentors, sharing tips about the ins and outs of high school, from courses and sports to peer pressure and goal setting.

Wake Forest-Rolesville received more than $130,000 from the General Assembly in January to implement the program.

"Transitioning can be difficult and going from some control to a little more freedom, some students don't know what to do with that," said Wake Forest-Rolesville's assistant principal Ina Nyko. "High school students can talk about those experiences."

The hope from educators is that students will develop positive relationships that in turn will boost their grades and help them graduate from high school.

The program couldn't have better timing, school officials said.

Just last week, the state Department of Public Instruction released a report showing more students are dropping out of high school. According to the report, 23,550 students in North Carolina dropped out in the 2006-07 school year.

Wake County had a total of 1,647 students leave high school before graduation.

Educators have long debated the issue of how to keep students from dropping out.

More than $7 million in grant money was provided to schools and organizations across the state to help programs similar to the one at Wake Forest-Rolesville.

In Wake, Athens Drive received a $38,979 grant to help at- risk ninth- and 10th-graders.

"We want to give our students every possible opportunity to stay in school and give them the tools they need to be successful," Nyko said. "And when you target the academics and the personal development, it can only explode in a positive way."

Wake Forest-Rolesville partnered with Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy, which works to solve issues facing children, to write the grant.

The two already have worked together on another effort called Project Aim geared toward helping students stay in school.

"This is a partnership between the school and the university that will benefit the kids," said Ann Brewster, a research scientist, who has done extensive work on dropout prevention.

Approximately 150 sixth- through eighth-grade students will be a part of the mentoring program.

The students were selected because they scored low on the end-of-grade tests used to measure how much students have learned during the year. According to the grant application, some students who have scored poorly on EOG tests already have begun to lose interest in school. Extensive tardiness and absences from school are red flags from school leaders.

Wake Forest-Rolesville has an enrollment of about 1,200. About one-third of those students receive free and reduced-price lunch.

As part of the program, the students will take a tour of Wakefield and Wake Forest-Rolesville high schools and Duke University.

"We want the kids to see that this is where they could go," Nyko said. "Anything is attainable if they put their minds to it."

This week, school leaders were collecting data and training the high school students to work with middle school students. The program will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Nyko said she's already heard from parents who want to make sure their child is involved.

Parental involvement is also a crucial portion of the program.

Already, the students are excited about working with their older peers.

"We'll have people who went here who will show us how to get better," said sixth-grader Khaalid Holliday.

"They'll help us prepare for college," added Miguel.