YES!Atlanta seeks to enhance the lives of "at-risk" teenagers through voluntary programs based on long- term regular contact with committed, caring adults. Our goals are to: Increase academic skills and performance Raise graduation rates Reduce self-defeating behaviors Increase self-esteem Build better relationships with family, peers, and authority figures Dropping out of high school is very costly to both the individual and our society. Since 1990 our primary program has been Rising Star. In it we work with at-risk inner-city teenagers who are assigned a trained adult volunteer mentor whose goal is to have the youth successfully graduate from high school while reducing or eliminating self-defeating behaviors that stand in the way of their maturing into fulfilled and contributing members of their community. We also provide volunteer tutors who help with academic problems.