tonight on "nightline," jarrod's revenge. from his diet, to $5 foot longs, we go behind the counter to see how subway built a fast food empire on healthy options and cheap eats and now has more u.s. stores than mcdonald's. lessons in hope. the inspiring story of a school in one of the most notorious neighborhoods where the expectations are anything but great and the walk to school can

be deadly. beating the odds. kids fighting their way out of desperate circumstances and if this radical approach works it may save lives and change the face of education in america. captions paid for by abc, inc. good evening. we begin with what might be called america's sandwich shop. it is somehow parlayed the obesity epidemic and a troubled economy into a fast food empire, but there are no super sized french fries, no double cheeseburgers dripping this calories. instead these meals are measured in inches and grams of fat and they're now selling at more than 20,000 locations coast to coast. with a home grown pitchman and of course a catchy signature

chew. as john berman now reports. >> we all need to eat in boom times and busts. we get hungry no matter what happens to home prices. when the dust settles from the recession, there will still be lunch. what does this economy taste like? >> yeah. >> it tastes fast. fast food sales are projected to increase 4% this year and this might be the new anthem. >> $5. ♪ $5 foot long >> we did double digits last year despite the economy and we are up again this year. >> jeff moody is the ceo of subway. we're in a subway in milford, connecticut, but chances are there's a subway near you right now. there are 22,000 in the u.s. alone. more than mcdonald's. >> we can get into more smaller

locations than they could. some of those places that were in convenience stores, some truck stores so we can get in more different footprints than they can. >> subway fits almost anywhere. not even the president can escape its reach. >> hey. subway guy. how you doing subway guy? you're going to get in trouble. >> no, it will be fine. >> they're more than fine. exploding in growth since first restaurant opened in connecticut in 1965. last year they sold two billion sandwiches. and it's not just the convenient restaurant size. yes, there's that ad again. subway does a lot of ads. >> with greasy fast food, what are you really getting? try a low-fat subway instead. >> which means any discussion of the subway success goes back to knight in shining armor.

not a sword, but a pair of very big hands. jarrod. >> count the calories. well, that's how i became half the jarrod. >> i didn't expect to be doing this. i weighed over 425 pounds and you would have said, hey in ten years you'll be the face of subway and become the face of the brand, i'd have aid you were crazy. >> jarrod fogel is the stuff of advertising legend. he claims he lost more than 200 pounds on a diet that consisted o of subway sandwiches. so subway put him on tv and hasn't taken him off. that was ten years ago. and you have the pants here? >> i have the pants, of course. these are the infamous jeans that became much more famous than i am. if i don't make an event that's okay, as long as the pants do. >> these are the actual pants?

>> these are the actual pant, the ones i wore. >> they've held up pretty well. >> they have. >> jarrod takes his pants on the road 200 days a year. speaking to kids about nutrition. >> everybody needs to make sure they make really, really good healthy decisions every day so they never put themselves in a position to wear jarrod's old pants. >> and of course throwing in plugs fosubway. >> eating subway every day twice a year, i lost 94 pounds. i lost you in three months, vanished. >> this formerly overweight guy from indiana is a cornerstone to a fast food empire? >> absolute cornerstone. i believe the company would have been succeful without jarrod but not nearly to the degree that we are because he took if he -- the healthy products and gave thea face.

he's not a celebrity because he set out to be, but a celebrity because he resonated with people who have similar issues to him. if that guy can do it, i can do it. >> will you get me one? >> that's the angle that subway is pushing harder than any other -- nutrition. >> try the subway -- >> they want to be seen as the healthy fast food place. if jarrod is the face and body of their nutrition operation -- >> let's take that one first. this is the brains. she's the corporate dietitian. >> we offer a choice and we make sure that there is a good amount of choices that are low in fat so people can make the right choice if they want to be. >> to be on the healthy menu what are the limitations? >> well, for our low-fat six gram of fat or less, it is esen tighter. our veggies and our bread have three grams of fat, so that leaves three grams of fat for all the rest of the things.

so we try to keep our meats extra lean. >> subway thinks pushing the health option is good business right now. >> some things people are still willing to spend what discretionary money and one is health. if they want to feel good about what they're buying. >> of course you don't have to eat healthy at subway. >> there's a lot of different ways you can go about getting a sandwich here. >> there are five different types of bread and plus flat breads. you can get four or five different kinds of cheese. when you get to the vegetables, we have 13 different kind of vegetables you can put together in a different combination. then a whole array of sauces. you can create two million different sandwiches. >> you have done the math? two million? that's a lot of options. >> i'm only halfway through them. >> subway does have high-tasting sandwiches as well and things

when you want to splurge, whether it's the meatball sub, that's great. it's all about giving the people the choices. >> high taste. that sounds even -- >> high taste. a lot of taste. flavorful. >> flavorful. it's high taste. it's fat -- >> but still a lot better for you than burgers. ♪ $5 >> and that subway hopes carries the company into the future. i'm john berman for "nightline" in milford, connecticut. >> fast food on a diet. our thanks to john berman. when we come back, an american high school plagued by violence where students facing long odds are receiving a new brand of education.

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where gang membership is rife and violence is common place. just over a year ago, a fight broke out reportedly involving 600 students and only police in full riot gear could stop it. but then, a private company with a radically different approach was hired. to take on one of the toughest jobs in education. that contributing correspondent lisa ling spent the year inside the school. tracking their progress. >> and ms. alexander -- >> rachelle alexander, one of the new principals, leads the team that has been knocking on doors inviting students and their parents to get involved. >> good morning. >> but in this community, parents get nervous when seone shows up at their door. >> the services -- >> exactly where we are -- i came here with cops once. this is -- this is notorious --

>> absolutely. we have no weapons. but anything -- >> it's paall part of a strateg to build trust and at locke this will be the biggest trust. why did you want to take on the school that is considered to be one of the toughest in l.a.? >> you can go into one of the toughest schools and make a turn around. what it will do, i think it will crea a political tipping pint in this city for all people in this city. >> these are the two schools that i am hiring -- >> back on campus, teachers are getting ready for day one. in a controversial move, green dot fired all of the original teachers and made them reapply for their jobs. >> we felt like a slap -- like a slap to our face. someone said that, you know, they felt they could do the job that no one else was doing. >> zeus cubias has been a teacher for the last 11 years. >> a lot of times we did --

whether it was bad or just kind of like the habit of not caring. >> mr. cubias reapplied for his job and is now assistant principal of one of the locke academies. >> one of if things that i'm -- the things that i'm really excited about if -- >> he tells us green dot has breathed new life into locke. >> the first thing that parents will see, there's a place called parents welcome center. i don't think parents have ever been welcome in this school before. >> you're pretty excited? >> oh, excited would be an understatement. excited would be an understatement. >> you're getting emotional there. >> yeah, i am. >> why you getting emotional? >> um, you know, it's like -- it's like almost like a combination of just wanting to

prove to people. like i'm going to show you that everything is a step up about this place. first time -- >> all right. follow me. >> on the first day, locke looks like a totally different school. students are in uniforms with shirts tucked in. graffiti walls get a paint job, and security patrols the campus and new trees make it feel like a college quad and not a prison beyond a reasonable doubt. -- a prison yard. if you're late, you're locked out. >> brandon stafford is a freshman at locke and a few months into school he has been suspended three times. what about outside of the school? what are some of the challenges that you have faced?

>> um, fights. like fights. on the way home in e neighborhood. >> how bad are the gangs in your neighborhood? >> they're pretty bad. like you can't walk down the street. >> the school has been divided up into six separate academies. for a kid like brandon a little attention and intervention can go a long way. but will it go far enough? in past years, locke has had abysmal attendance rates. alma flores a junior shows up for school on the first day. from day one, school would be a challenge r alma. she's just left a street gang, her stepfather has been arrested and she as -- she has arrived at school six months pregnant. hard to concentrate on school

when you've got so much stuff going on? >> yeah. i'm thinking of the problems at home. >> you have a lot of pressure on you. do you feel very stressed out about things? >> yeah, because right now i didn't know -- i don't know how i'll do it with the baby. >> alma has a rough pregnancy and she ends up missing most of the fall semester, but she is determined not to drop out. why do you want to go back to school so bad? >> to get an education and get a good job to help my mom. >> in the three years at locke, a senior has often thought about dropping out. last year he had mostly failing grades and despite improvements this year, he's still on the brink of not graduating. it doesn't help that he's frequently late for school. but he gets a bit of break because of what he's going through at home.

jimmy's past hasn't been easy. his father a gang member has been in prison for most of jimmy's life. >> my father went to jail for armed robbery. >> in 2000, jimmy's mother's died of lupus, leaving him and his seven brothers and sisters to move in with his retired grandmother. >> were you close with your mom? >> my mom is like my backbone. that's my mom. a part of my body. >> what's it like to be 18 years old and have responsibilities for so many younger >> i think -- ik -- i do -- i can't do it no more. just impossible for me to continue on with my life now. >> with all the odds stacked against jimmy, mr. cubias sees determination from him that he didn't see last year. >> i know, you don't do homework. i got your style. >> jimmy is -- he's making an effort. you know, he still shows up late

almost consistently. but that's an improvement from not showing up at all. >> halfway through the year, there are small successes. like attendance rates reaching 90% for the first time in years. but locke high school can't shield its students from the violence just outside. and it's about to face another test when one of its own students is shot. ♪ the ones who care for me [ female announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a touch of downy. ♪ take me home concierge claim centers.

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schools reported violent incidents in 2006, and in poorer cities across the country it's an everyday threat to education. but it's a model that locke works and others may be inspired to follow. more now from lisa ling. >> one morning we arrive at locke to find a crime scene. a student has been shot in front of the school. do you feel at all defeated because the year has been going pretty well? >> no, i don't. not at all. if anything, it reinforces my belief to change it. you know, there is a reality behind these gates. you know? and this could be one of the few places that we can set up so kids stop it. or that reality changes a little bit. >> meanwhile, brandon has been slowly been making a turn around. even his grades have improved. these are recent tests?

>> yes. >>o 95%. this one is 20 out of 20. pretty proud of those, huh? >> yeah. >> compare your grades this year with last year. >> last year i had d's, all d's and all f's. now i have a's, b >> "jimmy kimmel live," back in 's and c's. >> it is mandated that parents volunteer on campus and brandon's mom has gone above and beyond and she has been rewarded. >> your service for above and beyond for the 35 years because of the volunteer work. >> my volunteer -- >> oh, cool. is it to important for you to get involved? >> if you don't get involved your kids will think you don't care. re there for thehem.m know that and tha's's you -- catching up on her rk whihiles

she takakeses ca of r baby. for the sakeherfamily,he deteined to get r omoma. atat t the end of the yr, loc has fewewer drouts than a a small victoror t there's il lot owork to do to r ading leveels >>ood jojob. scos. sc, jimmy was ud for ek his finalsls yourad i is s prison right now? would you want to go? >> yeah, i wanted to go, but i couldn't make it because i've got finals. you know? very important. >> have you ever taken finals seriously? >> no. no. never took the finals this serious. ♪ >> jimmy told us that his graduation would be the happiest day of his life.

>> jimmy stoval. >> the only thing missing -- his mom. but his grandma was there. second highest number of d the students in its history. and is sending more students to four-year universities than ever before. jimmy is hoping he'll be the first in his family to get there too. for "nightline," this is lisa ling in los angeles. >> congratulations to jimmy and all the other graduates. ouhtack. to weinl be right backc