Denzel Washington, Boys & Girls Clubs fight dropouts - USATODAY.com: Long before he became a Hollywood star, Denzel Washington was a Mount Vernon, N.Y., schoolboy who spent after-school hours and weekends at his local Boys & Girls Club.
For 18 years, Washington has been national spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. On Wednesday, he's in Washington to help launch a new national program, called Be Great: Graduate, to identify kids who are at risk of dropping out of school and give them the help they need to stay and finish.
'Our goal is simple to state but hard to achieve,' Washington said in a statement. 'We want to help every Boys & Girls Club member advance to the next grade level every year and graduate from high school on time, prepared with the attitude, knowledge and confidence to succeed and achieve.'
