When 36 Winterboro students in caps and gowns walked down the aisle, they were four years early for graduation, but the moment was no less important.

These 36 first year students at Winterboro were experiencing the graduation experience as part of a pledge they would sign, Freshmen Commitment to Graduate.

They went through all the activities associated with graduation — invitations, family and friends watching, caps, gowns and a march down the aisle — to help them envision what their life might be like in four years from now.

It was an effort to help stem the dropout rate, which nationwide stands at 30 percent, by giving these students the graduation experience early. And they each signed a promissory note, vowing to earn that same march officially four years from now.

We think this is an innovative, impressionable way to stress the importance of graduation. And we commend officials at the school and in the School System for taking a new approach to an age-old problem that should help guarantee a different outcome.