The amount of kids who are trying to drop out at the last second is crazy!

I’m a high school English teacher. I don’t think I’ve ever had more kids try to drop out than I have this year. It’s May. Our last day of school is May 25th. May 1st I had a student come to me to say he was dropping out, but that he felt bad for the senioritis he had and he promised to give his 100% the next 25 days.<br><br>Today, I had a student with 50% in my class come to me and say he’s dropping out. He’s going to turn 18 and work construction. I tried so hard to talk him out of it. He was on the basketball team. He was in choir. He’s a super nice kid. And he’s been with us since 6th grade. I begged him to not throw away the next 25 days of school. He could still go to the prom. He could still walk across the stage. But now he’s going to be a dropout working construction at the age of 18, and I don’t know if he’ll ever go back to school or get his GED. I offered support so that he could finish with a 60%, which would be a huge accomplishment at this point. He can still do it, but he refused. I think his family really needs money, and I don’t know how to help. But I’m finding that I’ve had so many more requests from students to drop the last 25 days of school than I ever have as a teacher. I’m just so sad for the kid. He’s really giving up a great opportunity.