St. John's students show at-risk youngsters another side of life

A group of Annapolis youngsters spent much of yesterday discussing Booker T. Washington's commandment to live life to the fullest.

Tomorrow, those teens will apply that philosophy when they take off to do a week's volunteer work in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.

These high school-age students were able to participate in this summer-long learning process because a handful of St. John's students designed the curriculum, located grant funding and then spent their summer teaching the kids.

"I have discovered talents and skills I didn't know I had; writing poetry and this heavy talking...