(MONEY Magazine) – Listen up, you preteens and teens, While we lay out what high school means. It's where you get a chance to choose A groovy track that you can use To slide to college and a gig If you do your work and do it big. Don't try to play it off alone 'Cause help is nearer than the phone.

Find a counselor or a teacher To be down with and help reach your Goal to go the whole nine yards. Someone's there, it's in the cards. Showing that you're in it to win it Will turn the teach on in a minute.

To come correct, you've got to study, So why not huddle with a buddy? If you can ace a science quiz And get tight with an English whiz, You two could work to help each other. You'll need a space where any brother Can hit the books in peace and quiet. But if your 'hood's a four-star riot, No problem, you can just make some calls To youth clubs that have homework halls. Most charge no paper if you're tapped out, And also they're so well mapped out That they supply a tutor who Explains the hard parts just for you.

/ A new idea with large appeal Is having your school do a deal To give rewards if you can make The honor roll or never take A day to hang out on the street, Not even when you're feelin' beat, But always show and do some learning. Here's the breakdown: You'd be earning Points, and when you had enough, You'd get a prize -- some crazy stuff Like pizza pie for one and all Or discounts at the local mall. So ask your principal to try ''incentives.'' Yo! They're so fly That they could be just what you need To pump it up and go full speed.

The word-up gospel truth is that Your mom and pop can go to bat If you're so blowed away by math You feel you need a different path, Or classmates have you fretting so That you're 'bout set for letting go. Chill it, kids, and don't leave yet! Just tell your folks 'cause they can set Things right with teach and your crew too, And be so cool that when they're through, Instead of being in a haze, You'll be bringing home straight A's. The 4-1-1 is, schools do best When parents help them meet the test.

If you dig the hands-on stuff, Don't find electric wiring tough, Or breeze through cosmetology, Ain't no call for apology. To junior college you can steer And make that hobby a career. It takes you only two short years, And graduation brings no fears 'Cause you can throw down with a trade Or on the flip-flop make the grade At some def university, Where you can earn a fly degree. So go JC -- you won't be a zero: A diploma is what makes a hero.

You're a Latino or from Laos, A Pueblo Indian out in Taos, Or just blew in from the Ukraine? Hop on our multicultural train. You're crazy large 'cause what you bring Prevents that same-old-same-old thing From puttin' heads to bed in schools And pushes them to change the rules About what's taught and in what way In classrooms 'cross the U.S.A. We need your customs and your language, Like the reggae Jamaicans sang, which Left the island and became Ol' Bob Marley's claim to fame. Right here we're on the global tip, Movin' fast at such a clip That 36 million kids this spring will Go to schools that are bilingual.

It ain't no bummer To use the summer. If your school's open you can make up What you failed, so you won't break up With your class and be left behind With little kids -- that'll blow your mind! Or maybe there's a college intro Course where you can get raw info, Checkin' out a campus ground To find out just what's goin' down. Or if you know you've got to land A few dead Presidents in your hand, Get your principal or your teach Or your minister to try to reach Business owners who might agree to Furnish jobs so kids are free to Work part time and go to class For credits that they need to pass. The point to make is, this will keep Kids like you in school to reap A benefit that's truly slammin', 'Cause without learnin' you ain't jammin'.