An AmeriCorps volunteer works with a student at Los Angeles's Youth Policy Institute.

12 stories that may inspire hope

Here are stories with solutions. What do we mean? Read about the ‘diplomas now’ way, a fight against concentrated poverty, and an effort to improve college application process.

Culture
Elizabeth TompkinsETElizabeth Tompkins

An AmeriCorps volunteer works with a student at Los Angeles's Youth Policy Institute.

Youth Policy Institute

Who says the world is just a bunch of nasty, dead-end stories? Here are a few that feature positive endings, chosen by the Solutions Journalism Network. What do we mean? Scroll down to read how Cuban medicine could help American inequality, a new movement to evolve the fight against concentrated poverty and an effort to improve college application process.

Nauset High School student Branden Patterson (right), 17, and a group of his friends show up to school early most mornings, drink coffee in their pickup trucks, and listen to country music while they wait until classes begin.
Nauset High School student Branden Patterson (right), 17, and a group of his friends show up to school early most mornings, drink coffee in their pickup trucks, and listen to country music while they wait until classes begin.John Tlumacki/Boston Globe

1. Students find more awareness with later starts

By James Vaznis | Boston Globe

Woodburn High School.
Woodburn High School.Phoebe Flanigan/OPB

2. Live from Woodburn High

By Sage Van Wig | Oregon Public Broadcasting

Researcher Robert Balfanz says by ninth grade, he can identify 75 percent of the kids who will drop out from high school. That’s when a team of nonprofits rushes in to help.
Researcher Robert Balfanz says by ninth grade, he can identify 75 percent of the kids who will drop out from high school. That’s when a team of nonprofits rushes in to help.The 74

3. The 'diplomas now' way: Better Identify at-risk kids, do whatever it takes to get them to graduation day

By Mark Keierleber | The 74

Samantha Marie Moore, a sixth-year ELAM student from Detroit, Michigan, examines Estrella Gomez Mesa, 76, during morning rounds at the Salvador Allende Hospital in Havana, Cuba, October 6, 2015. Behind is patient Ofelia Favier, 85. All US students at ELAM
Samantha Marie Moore, a sixth-year ELAM student from Detroit, Michigan, examines Estrella Gomez Mesa, 76, during morning rounds at the Salvador Allende Hospital in Havana, Cuba, October 6, 2015. Behind is patient Ofelia Favier, 85. All US students at ELAM continue years three to six of their medical training at Salvador Allende Hospital.Allison Shelley/The Development Set

4. Can Cuban medicine help solve American inequality?

By Sam Loewenberg | The Development Set

Eight years after a mercaptan spill in Eight Mile, its mostly black and working class residents still suffer from respiratory issues, rashes and headaches.
Eight years after a mercaptan spill in Eight Mile, its mostly black and working class residents still suffer from respiratory issues, rashes and headaches.Inside Climate News

5. A tale of two leaks: Fixed in California, ignored in Alabama

By Neela Banerjee | Inside Climate News

An AmeriCorps volunteer works with a student at Los Angeles's Youth Policy Institute.
An AmeriCorps volunteer works with a student at Los Angeles's Youth Policy Institute.Youth Policy Institute

6. The evolving fight against concentrated poverty

By Peter Edelman | Talk Poverty

Working on an art project at Pre-K San Antonio's South Center.
Working on an art project at Pre-K San Antonio's South Center.Juleyka Lantigua-Williams/The Atlantic

7. When the whole family goes to Pre-K

By Juleyka Lantigua-Williams | The Atlantic

Over the last few years, voices from various arenas have begun to complain that increased competition in the college admissions process has become too stressful, too focused on getting into the “right” college, and overly focused on personal success.
Over the last few years, voices from various arenas have begun to complain that increased competition in the college admissions process has become too stressful, too focused on getting into the “right” college, and overly focused on personal success.MindShift (KQED)

8. How can the college application process be improved?

By Holly Korbey | MindShift (KQED)

Transformation: Nhu Le cooks in class at Worcester Technical High School’s commercial kitchen. A $90 million facility and a new curriculum have made the school, once among Massachusetts’ worst, a showplace.
Transformation: Nhu Le cooks in class at Worcester Technical High School’s commercial kitchen. A $90 million facility and a new curriculum have made the school, once among Massachusetts’ worst, a showplace.Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times

9. Massachusetts is a lot like us, so why are its schools so much better?

By Claudia Rowe | Seattle Times

A domestic violence incident was captured on a surveillance camera in High Point, NC.
A domestic violence incident was captured on a surveillance camera in High Point, NC.David Kidd/Governing

10. How high point, NC, solved its domestic violence problem

By John Buntin | Governing

St. Paul police officer Anthony Dean radios in to dispatch as he responds to a domestic violence call in mid-January. Police officers here are urged to be aggressive in handling domestic violence calls, including when the attacker has fled before help arr
St. Paul police officer Anthony Dean radios in to dispatch as he responds to a domestic violence call in mid-January. Police officers here are urged to be aggressive in handling domestic violence calls, including when the attacker has fled before help arrived.Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

11. Officials: ‘Woman’s state’ curbs domestic violence

By Beatriz Alvarado | Corpus Christi Caller-Times

While candidates stoke fears of Islam, a little-known counterterror program has been going exactly the other way.
While candidates stoke fears of Islam, a little-known counterterror program has been going exactly the other way.Politico/Getty

12. Inside the FBI’s secret Muslim network

Michael Hirsh | Politico