Not one to back away from a challenge, veteran educator Reed Thomas accepted an almost impossible task: figure out how to rally a group of unmotivated, struggling students and transform them into kids who are involved, interested in school, and-maybe most difficult of all-so confident in themselves that they would leave, diploma in hand, and make a success of their lives. And that's exactly what happened.

Some called it a miracle, as one student after another triumphed over insurmountable odds, and Reed was hailed for his unflinching faith in them, though in his own eyes, the students...