Making it to college if you're from a low-income family in the inner-city U.S. can be no easy feat — one group of men is trying to change that for the kids in their community with a simple idea.

On Monday, 80 men showed up before sunrise at Tindley Preparatory Academy in Indianapolis, Indiana, to greet arriving students with high fives and cheers befitting the start of an NBA playoff game.

A U.S. attorney, a juvenile court judge, the city police chief, pastors, firefighters and other professionals made up the diverse group of men gathered at the entrance of the school, which serves students from low-income families, many of whom will be the first in their family to go to college.

"Alright, baby, come on," a man can be heard yelling in the video below as a student jogs, grinning, through the welcome rally. "Have a great day," others holler, with high-fives all around. Before running through the gauntlet of cheers, each student received a 20-second pep talk before their name was announced on a bullhorn like a conquering hero.

Can you imagine coming to school and see this waiting for you? Posted by LeRoy Sedwick on Monday, October 5, 2015

LeRoy Sedwick, an organizer, told Mashable in an email that the group had been inspired by a similar event at a public school in Hartford, Connecticut. So the men in Indianapolis, calling themselves the Urban Positive Influence School Rallies Initiative, tried it out at Cold Spring School in late September. Sedwick says it has received twelve more requests from schools since the Tindley event — six to close out 2015 and six more to start 2016.

"I will be there and I encourage all men to come out and experience a joy you have never seen before. We owe it to our future leaders," he added. "That their community is behind them and that the men in their community are behind them."

The group gathers in front of Tindley Preparatory Academy.

Judge Geoffrey Gaither, of Marion County Superior Court's Juvenile Division, also helped put out Monday's call.

"It's transferring positive energy from all these professional men to help them make better decisions for themselves for the future," he told WTHR, a local NBC affialte.

13 WTHR Indianapolis

Just 52% of high school graduates from low-income families go on to college, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, compared with 82% of students from high-income families. That makes a strong support system and well-served schools essential in urban communities.

"I think they need to know people are supporting them in the community and they're not alone in this," Tindley Prep Principal Patrick Jones said. The all-boys charter school serves grades six through 12 on the northside of Indianapolis. Its motto is "college or die."

The group plans to keep the ritual going throughout Indianapolis. It will welcome students at John Marshall Community High School on Oct. 30, Avondale Meadows Academy on Nov. 2 and IPS George H. Fisher School 93 on Nov. 16.

Giving our young men a "hand-up" with Encouragement! So proud to stand with all of these GREAT men to empower our young... Posted by Krash Krew on Tuesday, October 6, 2015

"It made me want to do better," student Noah Brammage told WTHR after Monday's rally. "It felt like we were special and that sometimes people do care about this school," Reilly Conwell added.

Hundreds of communities across the nation participated in a similar effort in September for the Million Father March, whose mission is to get African-American men engaged in their kids' education.

"They don't see a lot of men in the community wearing suits, getting up every morning, going to work, coming home, you know," Trayon White told NPR News at a Washington, D.C., rally outside Ballou High School. "So it's a good chance for us to model what we want our young men to become."