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In Detroit High School, Young Men Exceed Expectations

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Okwuolisa Umeokalo, a 16-year-old senior, plans to leave Detroit when he graduates. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
Okwuolisa Umeokalo, a 16-year-old senior, plans to leave Detroit when he graduates. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)

Loyola High School in Detroit was founded in the early 1990s to address the city's soaring drop-out rate among young, black males. Today, the Catholic Jesuit school, which serves teens in a lower-income part of Detroit's northwest side, graduates 100 percent of its students. And every student in the past few years of graduating classes has been admitted into a two- or four-year college. Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd pays a visit to the school and speaks with some students.

Kyle McBeth is a sophomore on the debate team. He plans to come back to Detroit after college to help his city grow. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
Kyle McBeth is a sophomore on the debate team. He plans to come back to Detroit after college to help his city grow. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
Loyola High School in Detroit serves mostly black teenagers, and for the past six years 100 percent of its students have graduated and been accepted to college. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
Loyola High School in Detroit serves mostly black teenagers, and for the past six years 100 percent of its students have graduated and been accepted to college. (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)

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This segment aired on March 8, 2016.

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