The movie begins in black and white at a bus stop where high school aged students have gathered. The neighborhood itself …show more content…
So, while the students themselves might be bright, they have little to no education skills and lots of social problems and no desire to change any of those things. All of the academy students also come from a poor neighborhood and are mostly of either African American or Hispanic ethnic background. None of these kids seem to believe that they have worth, and appear to have lost all hope that their lives could ever be any different than they are now and most certainly not any different for the better. As a result, they treat school like it is just a place to kill time until they can go home and do not take it seriously. Honestly these kids really seem to have it rough, and it appears as if no one in the school cares about them or their academic success, until they get a new teacher, …show more content…
Luanne is able to get through to the students because she is persistent. No matter how bad it gets, she proves to them that not only does she keep her promises, but that she cares about them and wants to see them succeed. She is constant with her message that they are capable and that they have a choice to make about their lives, which starts with them either choosing to be, or not to be