Half of the students at Milton High qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That figure is often used to gauge the poverty level of a school community, and we all know the impact poverty can have on student performance. They have lots of reasons on paper to settle.

Except that Panthers don’t settle. Not on Mike Thorpe’s watch.

Pine Forest High School’s Frank Murphy sings from the same hymnal as Thorpe.

The graduation rate at Pine Forest was 60 percent in 2013, 4 points below the Escambia County average.

But Murphy is taking steps to improve that, especially among seniors most at-risk of not graduating.

The secret that both men tapped into? You’ll have to watch “Shannon’s Window” from this episode of “Progress+Promise” to find out.