Power of Good

4 A MERCEDES PLANT EVERY YEAR "We're excited," Bice said. "We're also very inspired." So inspired that Bice is aiming to increase the state's high school graduation rate from the 72 percent when he came into office to 90 percent by 2020. Although Bice admits he just pulled the 90 percent number out of thin air as a goal he believes to be attainable, the state later had an eco- nomic impact study done on what a 90 percent high school graduation rate would mean to Alabama. The result is that for every year the state achieves and maintains that rate, it equates to a $430 million per year economic impact. "That's like getting a Mercedes- Benz auto plant or an Airbus airplane plant every year," Bice said. "That's a game changer for the people affected individually and for our state." Alabama Power has identified education as a primary focus and is doing its own work to promote learning in Alabama. "We're focusing on education through our Brighter Minds initiative as well as other chari- table initiatives in the arts, health and human services, the environment and community development," said John Hudson III, vice president of Public Relations and Charitable Giving for Alabama Power and president of the Alabama Power Foundation. Alabama Power employees spent 55,000 hours volunteering with various organizations last year alone, Hudson noted. WHAT'S YOUR EVEREST? Perhaps no presenter at the con- ference knew more about "Elevate" than keynote speaker Eric Alex- ander, a world-class skier, climber, and mountaineer who made history and global headlines when he helped his blind friend Erik Weihenmayer climb more than 29,000 feet to the top of Mount Everest in 2001. Alexander made the treacherous climb after a previous failed climb in the Himalayas nearly killed him with a 150-foot fall onto a three-foot ledge that saved him from a deadly 500-foot drop, but left him with pulmonary edema. That made the 2001 climb all the more challenging and helped Alexander prove something to himself as much as it did help Weihenmayer achieve his dream. "When we focus on others, we can find out a lot about ourselves," Alexander said. Alexander instructs disabled skiers in Vail, Colo., and also directs Adventures Beyond Limits, an organization that edu- cates and encourages youths with disabilities in the outdoors. In addition to his many climbs, skis and other adventures with Wei- henmayer, Alexander has conducted similar challenges with soldiers blinded in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as others with different disabili- ties. He challenged those attending Elevate to determine what seems impossible to them and make it possible. Or, as Alexander put it, "What's your Everest?" ELEVATE continued on from 3 Keynote speaker Eric Alexander, a world- class skier, climber and mountaineer, with his expedition team on Mount Everest.

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