RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — During a certain class at Providence Grove High School, students focus less on the present and more on the future.
"I was struggling before I got to this class, but thanks to that helping ground me, I'm now passing pretty much all of my classes again," explained 11th grader, Gabriella Berrocal.
Communities in Schools is a nonprofit that helps students stay in school and achieve post-graduation goals.
Their "Jobs for North Carolina Graduates Program" helps prepare high schoolers for college and careers.
"She really tries to be personal with you and touch your heart more than any other class. I wasn't going to college and now, I really want to because of the way that Ms. Brown taught me," said 11th grader, Trey Seamon.
Both Berrocal and Seamon said the program helped them discover what to do with the rest of their lives.
Now it will help even more Randolph County teens. On Monday, the school announced a partnership with Toyota NC. The company gave them $500,000 to fund two high school programs.
"I was honestly shocked because I've never heard of any company giving that much money to schools or anyone, to be honest," Berrocal reacted.
CIS said this money will help sustain the programs at Asheboro and Providence Grove High School for the next two years.
"Partnering with Randolph County Schools is very exciting for me as we develop our children and prepare them to honestly come to join our team. I've been with Toyota for 22 years and it is my family. It is our team so the more community members we can get to join our family and team, I think the better we are as a company," said Toyota NC's, Mike Clark.
Toyota NC said it's focusing primarily on getting the megasite up and running, but in the future, it wants to get involved in the classroom, with the hope of inspiring a new workforce generation.