For many students and parents in North Carolina, the Graduation Project is a looming proposition. China Evans' first introduction to it came during freshman year, and her reaction was less than positive.

"I didn't want to do it, I just felt like it was unfair," said Evans, a junior at Cary High. "They gave us a pamphlet that was really just blah. I'm looking for a rubric, a guideline to show me what to put, you know, what I need to include and there was nothing there."

It has taken about two years for schools across the state to get on board with the Graduation Project requirement. At Cary High, students now attend a class where they get a lot of the work done, but the project also requires community involvement.

Cary High Assistant Principal Elaine Rogers visited the Cary Chamber of Commerce to recruit business leaders as mentors.

"Each student also needs a mentor, and that's a community member," said Cary High Assistant Principal Elaine Rogers. "It could be a friend of the family, it could be somebody in their church, somebody that is an expert."

Rogers recently visited the Cary Chamber of Commerce to recruit business leaders to spend the required 15 hours mentoring a student. It's no small proposition. With over 500 students in an average class in a Triangle high school, a lot of help will be needed.

"It's really a partnership between the school and the community," said Rogers.

Superintendent Carl Harris told the State Board of Education on Wednesday that Research Triangle Park has been a boon for Durham Public Schools, with companies like Glaxo and Cisco working with students. But that's not the case in most communities.

N.C. Board of Education member Kathy Taft of Greenville said she's gotten emails and phone calls from parents and educators.

"I think the concern over having sufficient mentors is a real concern, especially in our rural areas," she said. "I have seen Futures for Kids [an on-line resource] really step up to the plate and many of my superintendents in the northeast are taking advantage of this one way of getting mentors in a virtual manner."

While the Graduation Project is catching on with educators and business leaders, it is facing opposition from some lawmakers. N.C. Representative Jimmy Love of Sanford and Rocky Mount Representative Angela Bryant have co-sponsored a bill to abolish the requirement. The bill is still in committee.

Click on the video link above to hear a student's perspective on the Graduation Project.

Find out more about the requirements on the State Board of Education's website.