Today I did not drive up 7th Street. I was at a conference near Vanderbilt. As I left the stately old buildings and drove to my next appointment, I saw a somewhat unusual coed. She was dressed in black from head to toe. She was walking with purpose, head up, her sweet brown face lost in thought. The only thing that made her similar to the others on the street was her heavy backpack and her tennis shoes.
But she was familiar to me. It was Halima, one of our star students. Eighteen months ago, she was salutatorian of her high school, an area magnet school.
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