- Yeah, there's lots of ways to measure success at CMS.

Maybe test scores or graduation rates or reading comprehension levels, but for 600 CMS seniors here at the stadium, while it's not just about making good grades, but also about making good decisions about their future.

(upbeat music) It is not game day here at Bank of America Stadium.

So what are these CMS students lining up for and signing up for?

(audience applauds) And why is former Panther Star Steve Smith here too?

- [Fan] You don't know who Steve Smith is, by end of day, you gonna know who he is.

- [Commentator 1] The Carolina Panthers are in the Super Bowl.

- [Commentator 2] Gonna go deep down the far sideline.

It is caught, touchdown, Steve Smith!

- [Jeff] But before he had an all Pro Panthers career, before he had a big time football scholarship to college, Steve Smith says what he had first is what all these high school kids should have now, a plan.

- I have employment, I work at a big firm.

I put myself through college.

My mom was struggling, worked at Taco Bell for two and a half years.

- Smith is the keynote speaker at this year's first ever CMS "What's Your E" celebration?

- [Announcer] Nathan Benson, Zoliah Torrance, Zoriah Stevens and Cesar Res Linda Varde.

- [Jeff] Over 600 CMS students showing up and showing off their certificates, showing that they're ready for what comes next after high school.

- So my job is to articulate like I'm doing now, and tell your story.

- Our goal is to ensure that every student, every student, every student graduates from CMS enrolled, enlisted or employed.

- [Jeff] Those three Es- enrolled, enlisted or employed are a theme that first year CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill first told us about at the beginning of the school year, explaining that for individual students, a CMS education can't just be one-size-fits-all anymore.

- One of the things that we're charged with is preparing today's students for tomorrow's future.

And it's a future that is so uncertain.

We don't know what tomorrow holds.

(upbeat music) - Enroll.

- Enroll.

- Enroll - [Jeff] For these CMS seniors headed to college, What's your E means already enrolling in college level classes offered jointly by CMS and Central Piedmont.

Getting exposures to careers that require a college diploma.

Cora McDaniel wants to become a children's counselor.

- I got to do general psychology as my dual enrollment class and it not only gave me like the college credits for that course, which is a plus, but I got to kind of test the waters and see if I even wanna be a psychology major when I went to college and I still do So that's a great thing for me.

- We have Air Force, we have Army, we have Navy.

(audience applauding) - Down the hall School board member Lenora Ship tells this group of CMS students enlisting in the military that what they're doing today is what her own family members did a generation ago.

Making a commitment to serve their country that will also serve them well in their own lives.

- Thank you for what you're doing.

I do want you to know it is a journey, but it's a journey worth taking and I am so proud of you making this decision and you are in for a great, great future.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) I wanna say congratulations to you on selecting your E, which is employed.

- And while getting that first full-time job right out of high school isn't always easy, some of these employed CMS students already have job skills they learned while in high school.

- So right now I'm just putting in the hard drive and I'm just closing the back and changing some other settings that we are required to do.

- [Jeff] Like this program at Garinger High School, teaching students how to repair and refresh donated computers that are then shared with families who don't have computers.

Or this carpentry class at Independence High School where what these students are building today could be the blueprint for their career tomorrow.

(drill spinning) - So it's gonna give 'em good training.

They're gonna have the ability to advance.

It's gonna come with good pay, good benefits.

I want them to be able to get health insurance, a retirement plan.

(hammer pounding) - You may not realize that your decision to be employed is laying the foundation for your future and this decision is going to open up lots of doors of opportunities to help you create the future that you've imagined.

- Okay, so what about all those students who still haven't chosen their e, who still aren't enrolled, enlisted, or employed?

Well that's why the school system also held an undecided day for students that are still making up their minds, connecting those students with more information about colleges and careers, helping them to make that first big decision out of school that could impact their lives in a positive way.