White's Rules

It was while working construction that Paul White realized he needed to do something about the kids who were coming out of high school. The recent graduates working on his crew struggled with drugs, were barely literate, couldn't be relied upon to show up for work and in most cases had been thrown out of their houses by their own families. He decided that if he could get ahold of these kids earlier, he might be able to do better with them, thus, the birth of a teaching career. While he...
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It was while working construction that Paul White realized he needed to do something about the kids who were coming out of high school. The recent graduates working on his crew struggled with drugs, were barely literate, couldn't be relied upon to show up for work and in most cases had been thrown out of their houses by their own families. He decided that if he could get ahold of these kids earlier, he might be able to do better with them, thus, the birth of a teaching career. While he was a teaching assistant, he met an eighth-grade alcoholic who he started to shepherd around. He became that boy's guardian; the boy completed college and now in his mid-forties is a successful business owner.Paul didn't stop there. He went after the throwaways: the gang members who were too violent to remain in public high schools; the drug addicts who were expelled for dealing to other students; the violent juvenile offenders who lashed out at their peers, their boyfriends and girlfriends, their parents and teachers. He knew that with unconditional love and uncompromising rules these kids would blossom. And that's just what happened.White's Rules is the story of an extraordinary teacher and his most difficult students, the ones who would have fallen through the cracks without someone like White there to catch them. White is constantly accused of lying about his kids' progress, about their test scores, about their grades, but the stories are true. You'll meet Ashley, a 14-year-old crystal meth addict whose reading skills jumped from a 7th to 12th grade level in 8 months. She finished high school at 16 and nursing school by 18. You'll meet 14-yearold Mily who officials described as so violent that they couldn't guarantee White's safety. She's ace-ing her classes and taking a business course at a local community college. You'll meet Sarath, who on graduation quit the gang he'd grown up in and is off to a better life.Co-authored by Ron Arias, the People writer who wrote the article that brought Paul White to the world's attention, this is a gripping and moving narrative of hope, in which White shares his 'rules' for raising responsible, well-rounded kids.