In New Orleans, a new program run by formerly incarcerated people is aimed at helping students deal with difficulties and make good choices. The leaders are trying to break the cycle of failure they themselves went through. Lots of sound from the classroom helps the listener understand what the program feels like.

This piece is produced by Jane Renaud and Valerie Visconti at Learning Matters in New York City, an independent media production company focused on education.

Caution: watch for podcast announcements at the beginning and end of the piece

This one unfolds nicely in the scripting, and with good use of music beds, as a teacher reveals how she tried to keep her secret under wraps. But some students unwittingly outed her. It goes on from there with the teacher dealing with being at a Catholic School, and then trying a new strategy at a new school. And a little surprise at the end ties it up nicely.

This piece is by Ashley Garber at outLoud Radio in Berkeley, California. outLoud's mission is to give "voice to youth who are otherwise silenced because of who they love or their gender they claim."

This first-person StoryCorps piece is as poignant as it is short (1:11). What a punch it packs, as we hear Jerome Smith describe how a brief exchange with a stranger motivated him to become a civil rights leader. The challenge is how to use this piece....it would work best to introduce a longer feature, or even in a Q&A. Maybe something about personal decisions or moments that change lives. It's a gem.