The Undroppables

A social-media campaign plugs staying in school

Can social media solve one of our nation's most intractable social problems? Jason Pollock thinks so. The 30-year-old documentary filmmaker is gathering video testimonials from students like Jaureese Gaines, who--despite having witnessed three shootings in his Chicago neighborhood, including the murder of his best friend--stayed in school and became valedictorian. The social-media-savvy Pollock, who has helped Ashton Kutcher, Jamie Oliver and other celebrities develop online campaigns--and has 100,000 followers of his own on Twitter--is trying to harness the power of social networks to keep an estimated 1.2 million students from dropping out of school each year. "We want this to be...

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