More than one million students a year fail to graduate with their class. Over the past four years, AT&Ts Aspire program has worked with organizations across the country to help reverse this trend and achieve a national goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020. Although the high school dropout rate has improved, it is still a critical problem, particularly in an era when competition for jobs is intense.

Continuing our efforts to address this critical issue, we are excited to launch a new phase of Aspire a $250 million investment that will build on our existing initiative to help more students graduate from high school prepared for careers and college and ensure our nation is better prepared for global competition. AT&T Aspire has already reached more than one million students with $100 million invested since 2008, and now we are doubling down on American students and Americas future

In Florida, public officials and educators have placed a premium on education, and we have had an opportunity to play a role in their success. The Florida AT&T Aspire investment of almost $5 million since 2008 has benefitted South Florida organizations including Take Stock in Children and the Miami Science Museum.

David Green is an exemplary example of the local impact of AT&T Aspire.

David began the Miami Science Museum program during the summer after eighth grade. He had moved from Jamaica to the Overtown community with his mother, and transitioning into American inner-city culture was difficult. David found himself involved with gangs and after a couple of life-threatening situations, made the decision to leave.

Through support from the Miami Science Museum program activities, David has successfully transformed himself into the valedictorian at Booker T. Washington Senior High in Miami. Hes gained admission to the University of Florida and is awaiting decisions from other top-ranked schools. David was also a Posse Finalist, a finalist for the Dell Scholars program, the Gates Millennium Scholarship, the Coca-Cola Scholarship and has already been awarded over $10,000 in additional scholarship monies. His goal is to become a neurosurgeon.

David has succeeded because of his personal dedication, and adult and peer mentors providing positive influences to guide him in the right direction.

This new phase of Aspire will take a socially innovative approach that goes beyond traditional philanthropy, engaging people and technology to create distinctive solutions to social problems.

Today, the mobile Internet is omnipresent. Students of all ages are using this powerful resource, harnessing its potent power for the cause of education. For example, AT&T Foundry innovation centers will work with educators and other companies to find atypical approaches to help improve education. You can expect to see a particular emphasis on gamification, mobile applications, video and social media the communications environments in which todays students are most comfortable to instill a new level of excitement into learning.

But it will also take people to solve this challenge.

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Helping students aspire to success