When her 5-year-old son, Cael, came home from school singing The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want," Tina Horstmann knew she got lucky. His teacher, Ms. Gale, was a talented instructor -- fresh out of college and passionate about education. Cael thrived in Ms. Gale's class and...

When Michael Weiland's social studies class learns about Thomas Edison, they listen to an authentic wind up phonograph. When it's time for a lecture on the Wright brothers, they see a vintage biplane wing up close. During their lesson on the Civil War, they pass around a bullet recovered straight...

Anthony Mullen's thick Bronx accent and tough demeanor gave him his street cred for the 20 years that he patrolled New York City as a cop. The 50-year-old former deputy inspector isn't using his stern disposition to cuff teenage gang members anymore, though.

Instead he's teaching them -- as...