DALTON, Ga. — Two by two until they reached the capacity of 24, eighth-graders from North Whitfield Middle School entered The Choice Bus on Wednesday. 

A “half-prison cell, half-classroom converted school bus,” The Choice Bus “visually portrays two different life perspectives,” a press release said.

The prison cell has a metal bunk bed with mannequin dolls and a sink/toilet combination. 

“It’s a nasty, ugly place to be (prison), and people are not in there alone, sometimes it’s four inmates,” said Chet Pennock, lead presenter for The Choice Bus.

The Choice Bus has visited more than two million students in 25 states since 2008. It’s one of six tools created by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, “a national nonprofit organization created in 2007 dedicated to reducing the national dropout rate,” its website states.  

The Choice Bus is sponsored by State Farm and the foundation. Dalton Whitfield County Family Connection co-sponsored its local visit. The bus also visited Westside Middle School and Valley Point Middle School.  

During the 25-minute presentation, students watch videos about the importance of staying in school and making good choices. On Wednesday, the North Whitfield Middle School students watched “The Choice is Yours,” a four-minute video of inmates sharing how not staying in school affected their lives.

Pennock told the students every choice they make has consequences, whether good or bad. He shared the story of a tenth-grader in Loganville who got “caught in the wrong crowd.” 

“She was an honor student who was with her boyfriend and his two friends when they robbed a store,” Pennock said. “Someone died and they were charged.”   

Pennock said she was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“We don’t want that to happen to you,” he said. “We want you to avoid negative consequences.”

Pennock urged the students to begin thinking about their plans after high school now.

“You’re in the eighth grade so you have a little time, but once you’re in ninth grade there are no more do-overs,” he said.

“You have to start thinking today because you can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know where it is,” he said. 

Student Kace Kinnamon said he thought Pennock made a lot of good points.

“The video will help people take school serious,” Kinnamon said. “We really shouldn’t come to school without doing things to help us succeed.”

Kinnamon said The Choice Bus is a good way to get the attention of students who don’t take school seriously. 

“I think we can learn a lot from the video, too,” he said. “There were people who didn’t get an education and they didn’t go very far in life.”

Mike Miller, an assistant presenter, said they receive a lot of positive feedback after visiting schools. 

“Every year we hear stories from administrators, and from kids about how they were considering dropping out and this bus changed their lives,” he said. 

“They hear the power of making better choices and that makes a difference,” he said. “We’ve seen the graduation rate go up in schools and like to think we had a little part in that.”