Misguided in America

The teachers and students banded together to form a group they call the Village Nation. "The Village Nation comes from the African proverb, 'It takes a village to raise a child,'" Fluke says. "The average parent spends 12 and a half minutes face time a day with their child, and we have three or four times that amount. We began to realize that we could maybe make a difference here and do some things with these kids and, in fact, we did."

African-American teachers devoted extra time to tutoring and mentoring students, but the most important lesson the Village Nation taught was responsibility. "Here at the Village we have a chant that says, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'" Andre says. "And the students respond by saying, 'Yes, I am.' And what that means [is] that they take responsibility for their brother and for their sister."

Without that extra support, one mother says she doesn't believe her daughter would have improved. "For a while there I didn't think she would graduate," she says. "And the school here, the Village Nation, they gave her a lot of support. She's come a long ways."

"It's exciting to see that our kids, no matter what hand they're dealt, that they can do it," Andre says. "That they can fight against all the obstacles that's put before them. All that they need is an opportunity and all they need is a chance."