By MC1 Lewis Hunsaker

NPS student and Motivating Others Through Outreach (MOTO) co-program manager Marine Corps Capt. Heather Pelachick, center, addresses a class at Central Coast High School (CCHS), Oct. 26. The MOTO program provides at-risk youth the opportunity to work with an NPS mentor.

"Some of these kids are in a very disadvantaged environment and we want them to have every opportunity to graduate," said Pelachick. "At the end of last year, five students were in danger of not graduating. We shifted our focus and used MOTO to help these students catch-up on classes, and everyone graduated on time."

MOTO is now in its third year. It was initially limited to USMC students, however, the program will be expanding volunteer opportunities to everyone at NPS in January 2016.

"This program has helped the students tremendously. The mentors help the students focus on assignments while giving them someone to look up to," said CCHS Math Teacher Virginia Devaux.

Next year MOTO is planning a field trip for CCHS students to NPS, where mentors hope to introduce their students to NPS' various Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) opportunities, as well as the RoboDojo.