Apathy Perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools in America today. Teachers, counselors and caring adults are laboring to save students from failing, but despite all their efforts, many teenagers just don't seem to care about school. Though tugged in the right direction, some are determined to "crawl" themselves through the proverbial cracks. The symptoms of apathy are familiar and include chronic absenteeism, lack of motivation, being disorganized, inattentive, unprepared, abrasive, disrespectful, distracted and lethargic, to mention a few. Educators prod, lecture and admonish these...

In Straight from the Heart forty-five students tell a part of their story about when, where and why they lost their way in school. Their honest, and sometimes raw stories are powerful and engaging, both for other students and for adults. For adults the stories are a window into the subterranean world where struggling teenagers think, feel and live. They remind us what it's like to live in that youthful skin again and to be navigating those vulnerable, confusing places in life when everything seems to be spinning out of control. In addition, when other students read these stories they are...