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

"I know what it's like to have a rough life and I know what it's like to have parents care. But you can't take anger out on the world. We live in a world with cocky rich people and ghetto rough girls around to judge you and put you down, but we are all better than that.

"So, to me, no, the American dream is not imaginary. It's real. We just have to work hard to make it that way."

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The "Freedom Writers" idea came to Grover Washington in 2004, after Robert Vogel, an education professor at La Salle University, which has a partnership with the school, met Gruwell at a wedding in California.

"I went back and I read her book. I called her, and said, 'You've got to come out and meet my kids at Grover Washington,'" he recalled. "I just thought it would be a great opportunity for her to take a look at the same kind of kids, who are going through the same things at a much younger age."

At first, Galbraith was unsure he wanted to try an approach that went beyond the write-about-yourself programs in some schools. Some of his colleagues were skeptical, too, questioning the appropriateness of the book, which includes foul language, accounts of molestation and students using guns. In 2004, an Oregon teacher was disciplined after she used the book without parents' permission.

But Galbraith and his principal decided that the benefits outweighed the risks. That first year, Gruwell visited the school three times as Galbraith watched tough students break down and cry before their classmates and timid ones stand tall with newfound confidence.

"They had a voice and a stage where they could be heard," Galbraith explained.

With their parents' consent, this year's eighth graders also read Gruwell's book and wrote on topics Galbraith suggested:

Expound on the code of the streets. Describe your life in an "I am from" piece. A violent act that changes someone forever. Growing up without a father.

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Cynthia listens intently as Trey, a burly teen with glasses, stands to read. She'd seen another student pick on this shy boy, but hadn't known he'd experienced worse.

"If school is supposed to be safe, then why did I get jumped?" Trey read. "Why can't you look inside instead of out? Why do you have to look perfect to not be made fun of?"

"Trey's blooming, isn't he?" Galbraith says to the class. "Everyone, give a round of applause to Trey," says Cynthia.

As class ends, Heather says that writing "lets people know why I am the way I am. When I read it, I felt like releasing everything."

David confesses that "me not writing is just not me no more."

Galbraith, still sitting in the back of the room, praises his students for sharing so much.

"You get the feeling people shed tears when they sat down at the computer," he says. "Those are the kinds of strings I'm trying to hit... .

"To live with the shame or the feeling that you're not wanted because of who you are, a lot of people experience that, not just because of your race or color but just negotiating being a teenager. I hope you guys will continue to go deep with this."

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