Imagine a learning format that engages high schoolers personally in their learning while ensuring that they meet their school's prescribed standards. Clarke describes how the Pathways program created at a combined middle/high school in Bristol, Vermont (Mount Abraham Union High School), allows students to center school work around their personal interests, strengths, and aspirations. Each student receives guidance about how to design projects that incorporate personal interests and make sure their performance meets graduation standards. Adult mentors--including a teacher advisor and a community mentor with expertise in the skills a student seeks to master--help Pathways students explore questions related to their interests, select resources and community internships, and design meaningful projects. Clarke shows how involvement in Pathways has helped students who were formally stalled as learners take off, and how adult roles and community connections needed to change for the program to inspire learning and achievement. (Contains 1 endnote.)