A Freedom Writer Teacher's Story: Rejuvenation #111

This teacher tells the story of Temika, her most difficult student. In a classroom filled with gang members and drug users, this teacher was able to reach almost all of her students, except Temika. After breaking up yet another fight caused by this student, the teacher began to read the journal entries that her students had marked for her to read from that day's journal-writing time. Surprised to discover that Temika had given her permission to read one of her journal entries, the teacher began to cry as she discovered the secrets to her student's troubled home life and the reasons behind her awful behavior. Knowing that her troubles with Temika were far from over, the teacher nevertheless was comforted to know that she had finally made a tiny breakthrough with this student that she previously thought was unreachable, and she became "determined not to give up on her, because...that was what she had come to expect from the people in her life."