Part 1: With passion, a class pours out troubles on paper

Galbraith sits at a student's desk in the back of the room and asks for another volunteer.

Heather Rodriguez, 13, slowly rises from her chair, and reads what she's written about a very close relative.

"Being half white and half Puerto Rican isn't easy," she says, calling the relative "racist against me and my little sisters. That lady...," Heather begins to cry.

She pauses and takes a couple of breaths.

"That lady never accepted me and my sister. She didn't even get a chance to know us for us. She doesn't even like my father for the simple fact that he is Puerto Rican... ."

With her last word, she collapses in her seat and buries her face in her hands. Another 13-year-old, Cynthia Vega, rushes to Heather's side and rubs her back.

The two girls disappear into the hall, taking a break from the readings.

Long Nguyen has written on "the American dream." The 14-year-old, who arrived from Vietnam when he was 8 and wants to join the military so he can take Vietnam back from the communists who killed his grandfather, rips into the idea.

"I spit on my dreams," Long says in a low, firm voice. "The more hope and work I put in my dream, the more it hurt me at the end... . The American dream never existed and never will it appear. It's just legend and more lies, lies that weaken people's mind and courage.

"There's no such things as dreams, just obstacles I have to overcome and destinations I have to reach."

Galbraith, 40, looks at the teen in astonishment. He didn't expect such bitterness from him.

There were so many concerns he had about these children, beyond their academics - more than 40 percent read below the national average.

Some had had a rough start to the year. Hasan Evans, 13, had constantly sassed Galbraith. Reggie Whitman, 14, brimmed with anger - he'd even flipped over a desk one day. Though a strong reader, Trey McCloud, 13, had been reluctant to pick up a pencil. Jeremiah Robinson, 13, saw himself as a class outcast and was kicked and punched by other students.

Cynthia, an ebullient teenager, was racking up absences. There were students with parents in jail, students with friends and family who had been shot or killed.

The violence around them made it more likely that they would use violence themselves to solve problems.

Many such children prove to be resilient, though researchers are only beginning to understand why. Having a stable, positive relationship with an adult, enjoying some successes and having an understanding of one's environment may be factors.

And writing about traumatic experiences can be an outlet - another way to cope.

"Some kids engage in behavior to prove they exist... spitballs, shooting somebody. If you can prove you exist by writing and reading your biography, it's got to be helpful," says Richard Gelles, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice.

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Cynthia, a tall girl with long brown hair, who had returned from comforting Heather in the hall, has a more positive take on the American dream.