The Dothan Education Foundation and the Wiregrass Foundation presented a grassroots initiative to involve the public in the school system.

It’s called, Yes We Can Dothan.

City leaders, school officials, teachers, students and other members of the community came to the Dothan Civic Center Tuesday, in support of the program.

News 4 learned how the program is expected to help Dothan City Schools.

Local leaders pulled off a branch of Yes We Can Dothan to improve public education in the city of Dothan.

According to Virginia Christian, the operations manager said, "The main goal of Yes We Can Dothan is to get the community voice, to get what people want out of their education system and out of their community and have it presented to their school board and superintendent and say this is what we want."

Dothan citizens and school officials say they hope the program will do the same for Dothan as it did in Mobile County, after their school system reached an all time low.

"Five years ago, after Mobile started this; they're now in second place in test scores behind Hoover. How about that," says Mr. Morris Slingluff, the co-chairman, of Yes We Can Dothan.

Organizers hope that in the end, high school graduation rates will go up and students will be better prepared for college or a new career.

"We have to step in and raise our children and we know that if our children ultimately go to Penn State, or the state pen, it’s up to us," says Judge Rose Gordon, another co-chairperson, Yes We Can Dothan.

Officials on the Board of Education are looking forward to having extra support from parents and members of the community.

"We’re excited about the possibilities and to have this kind of response to this effort is just so encouraging for us. As the superintendant of the Board of Education, we are looking to real good things happening to this community in the future," says Dr. Sam Nichols, superintendent of Dothan City Schools.

Yes we can Dothan applies to all Dothan City Schools, and soon enough, there will be community meetings being held to address the issues at each facility.

All citizens of Dothan are encouraged to participate.

For more information on upcoming meetings in your area, you can contact Virginia Christian, the operations manager, at 836- 0217, extension 109.