TALLADEGA COUNTY — On Monday, the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, a Birmingham non-profit organization with a mission of reducing school dropout rates across the country, made its debut appearance in Talladega County.

The Choice Bus, an experience-based learning tool for this cause, rolled into Winterboro High School’s parking lot early that morning. MCSF executive director Phil Christian said the bus is one of their most popular programs.

“It gets across how you can connect the dots between getting an education and possible consequences for dropping out,” said Charlene Meeks, a volunteer for MCSF. “It’s important that these kids know the importance of getting an education.”

When each group of students climbed aboard the bus, they were treated to a short film of dropout statistics and testimonies of Alabama inmates who expressed their regrets about leaving school and how that choice ultimately led to a path toward incarceration.

After this, program manager Lynn Smelley would pick up where the film ends with lessons and examples of how such a choice can lead to a dangerous path in life.

Each tour concluded with a revelation of the bus’ secret. The vehicle’s rear had been modified to simulate an actual-size jail cell.

There were audible exclamations at the realization of a cell’s tiny dimensions and hygiene and privacy sacrifices.

Smelley’s presentation focused on the students’ abilities to lessen their chances of ending up in there through education.

When deboarding, each student received a pledge card to sign toward staying in school. These promissory notes are used by the individual schools for their own programs.

“It’s another motivational program we’re having to persuade students not to drop out,” said WHS graduation coach Iris Jemison. “It’s not meant to sound threatening. It just shows what could happen.”

Ninth and 10th grade classes from Talladega Central, Fayetteville, Lincoln and B.B. Comer Memorial High School were invited to take their turns in “Choice 1.” Around 500 students took the tour that day.

Lincoln High School principal Terry Roller said the importance of such anti-dropout programs are especially important at this age because these are time when students go through dramatic changes yet must make important life decisions at the same time. He said the key is to inform them so they will make correct decisions.

Christian said that in most cases, middle schools are the primary target for the Choice Bus.

The Choice Bus program was created as a follow-up to MCSF’ InsideOut documentary program, which features testimonials of lives devastated by choosing to leave school. Christian said the Choice Bus program was created to reinforce the power an education can have in altering a life course.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the program, Christian cited an example from a student in Weaver whose mother coincidentally showed up at school to sign paperwork to let her son officially drop out on the same day InsideOut was being shown.

He said the student reconsidered his options after the program.

The Choice Bus has appeared in several states including Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Virginia.

The particular bus used at WHS was “Choice 1,” the first bus constructed for the program. It began in October 2008 and has had more than 85,000 students on board as part of the program since then.

A second jail-cell simulator bus, “Choice 2,” was built in August and has had around 20,000 students so far.

Christian said he’s working toward creating 10 more buses. He expects at least four to be ready by the end of 2010.

Christian credited the program’s success to their knowledge and use of dropout statistics.

“More graduates create a better economic base and a better educated workforce,” he said.

Jemison was instrumental in bringing the Choice Bus to the county. She said she learned about MCSF when founder Shelley Stewart visited Talladega County about two years ago. She got a copy of “InsideOut” and explored the other programs through the website. There she found out about the Choice Bus last year.

She began planning the event at the beginning of the year as part of WHS’ dropout prevention program.

Assisting Jemison on Monday were student volunteers from Future Business Leaders of America. Lacey Chapman, Denise Shirey, Brittany Gardner, Daejah Elston and Shantrice White essentially acted as tour guides throughout the day.

Gardner, a senior, said, “I volunteered because I know how hard it is to want to stay in school. I want to do what I can.”

Part of Stewart’s motivation for founding MCSF was his own motivations to overcome temptations to drop out of school. Orphaned by violence and suffering abuse at a young age, his circumstances offered several opportunities to leave school, yet he stayed through to the end, ultimately completing graduate school. He created MCSF to promote literacy and keep kids in school to give them better chances in life.