"I felt like school was getting too hard. I felt like I needed more free time with my life. I was getting a little older, wanted to do more stuff," says Rich.

To keep students in school, Putnam County has programs like Vertical Teaming, getting students ready for the next grade, and Link Crew where an upperclassman befriends an incoming freshman. That program is two years old and has already made a difference.

"Seniors say ninth graders are more likely to ask questions, more comfortable stepping up and asking things than they've ever been," says Penny Fisher, Director of High Schools for Putnam County Schools.

Besides changing the mindset of freshman entering high school for the first time, the program has also changed the mindset of upperclassmen and event teachers.

"It gives them somebody they can talk too, and the whole point is to have relationships in school that keeps kids coming to school. The relationships would be with adults and other students," says Fisher.

Meanwhile, Rich has returned to school, regretting his decision to drop out. "Yeah, all the time," says Rich.

His goal is to be an auto mechanic, as school leaders try and keep students like Rich from slipping through the cracks.