From the Oprah Winfrey show, dowloaded on June 19, 2007

from a show apparently broadcast on May 31, 2007

Oprah's opening:

"Many of America's children are in crisis, falling and failing in life. These are people just like you who are stepping up and making a big difference: CSI [star] Harper inside a juvenile prison.; three teachers who led a California miracle; and how one man is saving thousand of America's children. That's the message America needs to hear. I want to kiss you all."

Most people have never heard of Geoffrey Canada, but in one of New York City's poorest neighborhoods, he has become a household name.

In 1970, Geoffrey founded Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit, community-based organization that set out to prove that poor black children can and do succeed. Over the past two decades, Geoffrey has adopted a 100-block area of central Harlem and created programs to help more than 10,000 inner-city children each year.

As one of four boys raised in poverty by a single mother, Geoffrey says he knew as a child that there was a better way. "I thought, 'Boy, if I ever get the opportunity, I'm going to go in and I'm going to let those kids know that people really care about them,'" he says.

With generous contributions from private donors and foundations, Geoffrey raised enough money to build a $42 million, state-of-the-art middle school. The middle school is just a few blocks away from his progressive elementary school, Promise Academy.

Geoffrey's students go to class from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and their school year stretches late into the summer. A free health clinic and free, healthy lunches are other perks available to Geoffrey's "adopted" children.

At Promise Academy, teachers start stressing the importance of college at an early age. To reinforce these ideas, the students recite self-affirming statements like, "We will go to college. We will succeed. This is our promise. This is our creed."

These breakthrough teaching methods seem to be working. "I have 160 kids currently in college," Geoffrey says. "We're about to send another 140 kids to college this year. We're building that pipeline."

One of Geoffrey's most popular programs in the Harlem Children's Zone is actually geared toward adults. Every Saturday morning, parents file into classrooms for Baby College. During these free parenting classes, new moms and dads learn about everything from health to early childhood development.

Geoffrey says the parents also learn how to discipline their children without spanking or hitting. "We have so many of our children who end up in foster care because their parents lost control," he says. "We figured out 30 years ago how you can raise a child without hitting, and no one's ever told these parents. They're skeptical at first, but as they begin to see it work, they say, 'You know what? Maybe you've got something there.'"

These lessons have helped transform the lives of hundreds of parents in Harlem. Darlene, a mom enrolled in Baby College, says instructors helped her develop positive parenting skills. "I would say to myself, 'How can you not hit? How can you not yell at him?'" she says. "They told us, 'Take your time and read instead of always yelling.' I started reading bedtime stories to him. Now, he reads to me. What I know is that in the future, my son's going to be somebody."