MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Some employees and volunteers with the Baldwin County School District are using part of their Martin Luther King Day not as a respite from work, but as a way to make a difference in the community.

Assistant Superintendent Allen Martin has been tasked with heading up the third Educate to Graduate Rally that takes place Monday morning.

“The project started in July 2014 when we pulled a drop out list for one of our cohorts and noticed there were over a hundred students that we had no information on,” Martin said in an email. “We did not know if they had gone to another school, or were working. We did not know what these students were doing. This led us to try and track down these students to try and get them back in school or at least give them some choices such as Youth Challenge Academy, Cyber Academy, etc.”

These students are provided with options for continuing their education as well as other information such as how much a high school graduate earns professional versus someone who did not finish. According to the assistant superintendent they are anticipating reaching out to between 25 and 30 kids, but that number could increase as the district combs through the system. Volunteers will be divided into teams with a lead staff member to present information to the students. Martin added that if the targeted student is not home the packet will be left with whoever is present so it can make its way into the right hands.

The service project began with Superintendent Dr. Noris Price, who at Tuesday night’s monthly board meeting said she had “good news” regarding the project’s influence over the past two years. Martin passed that news along to the board and those in attendance when he said what started as more than 100 students that needed reaching out to has been brought down to eight. Those results have made it possible for the rally to expand its reach to a different group that is also in need of assistance.

“So we’re actually able to bring in some seniors that are behind on credits and some seniors that need help with attendance to get back in there,” Martin said to the board.

Volunteers are still welcome to sign up by emailing Martin at allen.martin@baldwin.k12.ga.us or he also said they can just show up at the board office located at 110 N. ABC St. Monday at 9 a.m. He added that volunteer turnout has been 15 to 20 people in the past.

“It’s good to get that community support and let the kids see people besides just us (district employees) come out and talk to them,” Martin said.