Inspiring Math Teacher Aims to Help Kids Graduate

From time to time, you read about truly inspirational teachers who have managed to help the toughest kids succeed. Rodney Carey is one of those amazing teachers. He teaches math in a windowless classroom in New Orleans to students ages 16-24--most of whom do not have a scholastic level above 5th grade. His ultimate goal is to help each of his students make it to graduation.

So, how does he do it? He's hard on his students, but he also does whatever it takes to encourage them. Before Carey was a teacher, he was a bail bondsman. Before that, he was a troubled kid himself. Seeing several young kids heading toward the unproductive road to jail time, he decided to become a teacher and make a real difference.

Check out Rodney Carey's inspiring story at NPR.com.