CHARLOTTE -- As thousands of high school students prepare for graduation, some of them may not have made it if it wasn’t for one local organization.

Right Moves for Youth has been helping students stay in school and on task for years. Last year, 12 students from Myers Park High School graduated from the program, earned a diploma and all went on to a four-year college.

For Tesfom Mehari, getting to graduation has meant facing his share of setbacks as he adjusted to American schools.

“He's ... [been] presented with a lot of challenges,” said Carlos Grant, assistant principal of Myers Park High School. “He’s originally from Africa, and so when he came to Myers Park he had some cultural differences and language barriers which in itself presented some problems."

About two years ago, Mehari got involved in a club sponsored by Right Moves for Youth. The program helps motivate students, encouraging them to stay in school and one day earn a high school diploma. For Mehari, it resulted in “a lot of change – change in my grade, how people treated me and how I treat people.”

He says he went from ‘C’ and ‘D’ averages to straight ‘A’ grades this year. If it wasn’t for the club, Mehari says he doesn’t know where he’d be. “It changed my path. I used to be different.”

Mehari isn’t alone. Darion Bonapart is headed to college, knowing the program helped him. “A new life, a new beginning,” he said of what the program gave him. “Knowing that I can start off on a good foot and know people have my back.”

"It helped them become successful, gave them encouragement to do the right thing, be successful in life and they're productive citizens now,” said Dave Scheppegrell of Right Moves for Youth. The group helped keep thousands of students in school this year, and dozens of them will graduate in a few days.

Right Moves for Youth says 82 percent of its students graduate high school and go on to post-secondary institutions.