This paper is a case study of the impact of a community-based, collaborative, mentoring intervention on the academic and personal success of a group of 32 students who were enrolled in Rowland Hill Latham Elementary School in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools during the year that the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction identified Latham as a "School of Distinction," 2001-2002. In the spring of 2011, approximately 30% of those 32 students had dropped out of school, approximately 25% had left the system, and approximately 53% (17) persisted in school. The paper goes on to discuss how schools and their stakeholders can make the "Latham Way" a reality in their communities. The "Latham Way" logic model is based on collaborative planning, data-based decision making, and transformational leadership. These variables support collaboration among teachers, students, families, the community, Project CHILD, and the administration to improve student performance. The mentoring intervention was a creation of a community organization in this logic model. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)