tonight on "nightline," from his diet, to $5 foot long 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 nything but great and the walk to school can bebe deay. bebeating the odds. kids fighti their way out of desperate cirmstances and if this radic approach works it may save lives anand change t face of educion america.

captions pd for by abc, inc. good evening.. we begin with what might be calledmerrica's sandwich shop. it is somehow parlayed the obobesity epidemic and a troubl economy into a fast food empire, but there e are no superized cheeseburgers dripping this calories. ininstead these meals are measud in inches and grams of fat and they're now selling g at morthan 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 nd to eat in boom times and busts. we get hgry no matter what happenso home prices.

whenen the dust settles from th 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 d this might be the n new anthem. >> $5. ♪ $5 foot lonong >> we did double digits last year despite the economy and we >> jeff moody is the ceo of subway. we're in a subway in milford, connecticut,ut chancnces are there's a subwaay near you righ now. there are 22,000 in the u.s. alone. more thahan mcdonald's. >> we can get into more smaller lolocations 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 reaea. >> hey. subway guy. how you doing subway guy? you're going to get inuble. >> 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. >> withgreasy fast food, what are you really getting? try a low-fat subway insteadad. >> whihich means any discussionf the subway success goes back tt knight in shining armoror. not a sword, but a pair of very big hands. jarrod. >> count the calories. well, that's how i became half the jarrrrod. >> i i di't expect to be doing this.

you would havesaid, hey inn ten years you'll be the face of susubway and become the fe e of the brand, i'd have aid you were crazy. >> jarrod fogel is the stuff of advevertising 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 wasas ten years ago. and you have the pants here? > i have the pants, of cours. these are the infamous jeans that became much more famous 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 panants on e road 200 days a year. speaking to kids about nutrition. >> everybody needs to make sure

they make really, reallyly good healthy decisions every day so th never put themselves in a position to o wear jarrod's old pants. >> and of course throwing in plugs for r subway. >> eating subway every day twice a year, i lost 94 pounds. i lost you in three months, >> this formerly overweight guy from indiana is a cornerstone to a fast fofood empire? >> absolute cornerstone. i believe the comny woululd have been successful l without jarro but not nearly to the degree that we are because he took if he -the healthy products and gave them a face.e. he's not a celebrity because he set out to be, but a celebrity becausee resonated with people who have silar issues to him. if that guy can do it, i can do

it. >> will you get me o one? >> that's the angle that subwbw is pushi harder than any other -- nutrition try the subway -- >> they want to be seen as the healththy fast food place. if jarrod is the face and body of their nutrition operation -- >> let's take tht one first. >> this is the brains. she's the corporate dietitian. >> we offer r a choice and we ma sure that there e is a good amot of choioices that are low in fa so people can make th right choice if theyant to be. >> to be on the healthy menu whwh are the limitations? >> well, for ou low-fat six gram of fat or less, is esen tighter. our veggies and o bread have three grams of fat, so that leaves three grams of fat for all ththe rest of the things. so we try to keep our meats extra lean. >> subway thinks pushing g the health option is good business right now. >> some things peoplple are stil

willing to spend what discretiony money and one is health. if they want to feel good about whathey're buying. >> of course you don't have to eat healthy at subway. >> there's a lot of different ways you can go about getetting sandwiwich here. >> there are five different types of bread and plus flat brea. you can get four or five different nds of cheese. when you get to the vegetables, we have 13 different kind of vegetables you can put together in aifferent combination. then a whole arr of sauces. yocan create two million difffferent sandwiches. >> you have done the math? two million?n? that's lot of options. >> i'm ly halfway y through them. >> subway does have high-tasting sandwiches as well and things when you want to splurge, whetheher it's the meatball sub that's great. it's all about givg the people ththe choices. >> high taste. that sounds even -- >> high ste. a lot of taste. flavorful. >> flavorful.

it's high taste. it's fat -- >> but still a lot bett for you than burgers. ♪ $5 >> and that subway hopes carris the company into the future. i'm john berman for "nightline" in milford, connecticut. >> fast food on a diet.. our thanks to john bermaman. > when we come back, an americanan high school plagued violence where studentsts facin long odds are receiving a new brand education.

geico's been savinpeople moneyey and who doesn't t want value fr their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it uto show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw itit? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minuteses could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

everyday we generate 8 times the information found in all u.s. libraries. whe did it come from? store transactions, market movements. emails, photos... videos... blogs... whwhat if chnology could capture all this information... and turn it into intelligence. we coulddentify patterns faster... we could predict with greater confidence... convert data into action... smarter information means smarter decisions. smarter decisions build a smarter planet... that's what i'm working on. i'm an ibmer. i'm an ibmer. i'm an ibmer. let's s build..... a smarter planet.

it's a high school located in dangerous territory in the city of angels. 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 g gear could stop it. but then, a pri company th

a radically different approach was hire to take on one of the toughest jobs in education. ththatontributing correspondent lisa ling spent the year inside the school. tracking their progress. >> and ms. alexander -- >> rachelle alexander, one of the neprincipals, leadsthe team that has been knocking on doors inviting students and their parents to get involved. >> good morning. >> but in this community, parents getet nervous whenomeone shows s up at their door. >> the services -- >> exactly where we arere -- i came here with cops once. thisis is -- this is nototoriou- >> absolutely. we have no weapons. but anything -- >> it's pall part of a sttegy to build trust d 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 inin l.a.? >> you can go into one of the toughest schools and make a turn around. what it will d i thinknk it will create a political tipping point in this city for all people in this city. >> these are the two schools that i amhiring -- >> back on campusus, teachers a getting ready for day one. in a controversial move, green dot fired all of the iginal teachers anmade them reapply for their jojobs. >> we felt like a slap -likke a 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 year. >> a lot of times we did -- whetether it was badad or just of like the habit of not carini. >> m mr. cubias reapplieded fo job and is now aistant principal of one of the locke cademies. . >> onene of if things that i'm

the things that i'm really excicited abt if -- >> he tells us green dot has breaed new life intoto locke. >> the first thing that parents willl see, there's a place calld parents welcome center. i don't thinkk parents have eve been welcome in thischool before. >> you'r're prpretty excited? >> oh, excited would be an understatement. understatement. be an >> you're getting emotional there. >> yeah, i am. >> why you gettiting emotional? >> um, you know, it's like -- it's like almost like a combination of just wanting to proveve to people. like i'm going to sow you that everything is a step up out this place. first time -- >> all right. follow me.

>> on the first day, loe looks like a totally diffent school. students are in uniforms with shirts tucked in. graffiti walls get aa paint job anand security patrols the camp and new ees make itfeel like a llege quad and not a prison beyond a reasonable doubt. -- a prison yard. if you're late, youe locked out. >> brandon stafford is a freshman at locke and a few months into school he has been suspended d three times. whaat about outside of the school? what are some of the challlenge that you have faced >> um, fights. like fights. on the way home in the neighborhood. >> how bad are the gangs in your neighborhood? >> they're pretty bad. like you can'n'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 wa 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 for alma. she's just left a street gang, her epfather has been arrested and she as -- shshe has arrivedt scho six months pregnant. hard to concentrate o on school when yoyou've got so much stuff gog on? >> yeah. i'm thinking othe problems a at home. >> you have a lot of pressure on you. do you feel veryry stressed out about things? ? >> yeah, because right w i

didn't know -- i donon't know h 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 s determined not to drop out. why do you want to go back to school so bad? >> to get an edution 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 stl 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. jimms past hasn't been easy. his father a gang member has en in prison for mostst of jimmy's life. >> my fathther went to jail for armed robber >> in 2000, jimmy's mother's died of lupus, leavin him and

his seven brothers and sisters to move in with his retired grandmother. >> were you close withth your m? >> my mom is like my backbone. that's my mom. a part of my body. >> what's it like to be 18 yeas olold and have responsibilitie for so many younger siblings? >> i think -- i do -- i cacat it no more. jujust impossible for me to continue o on th my life now. >> with all the odds stacacked against jimmy, mr. biasas sees determination from him that he didndn't see last year. >> i know,ou don' do homework. i got your style. >> jimmy is -- he's making an efeffort. you know, he still shows up late almost consistenently. but that's an improvent from not showing g 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. [ female announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a touch of downy. ♪ take e me home concierge claim centers. so i canust drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. if youan't come to us, we'lcome to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother n't let me drive?

then you probably wouldn't have had an accident in the first place. anand we're walkin'! and we're walkin'... mang it all a bit easier -- now that's progressive! call or click today. maket the video store. she could even watch somee movies instantly on tv. ( tires screech ) - ( panting ) - wrong store. no way.. clerk: sorry. take the drama out of renting. announcer: netflix. dvds by mail-- plus some movi instantly on your tv. only $8.99 monthth. it's my "save-so-much-on- his-grphing-calculator...

look. i made it say, "booger." ...i-can-get-him-a- math-tutor" button. it's my "save-so-much- on-schooool-supplies- he-can-stop-using-his-sister's- old-ackpack" button. it's my "save-so-much-i-ca get-a-binder-for-every- day-of-the-week" b butt. there's no school on saturday and sunday, genius. don't ruin this for me. (announcer) .staples equas on everything for .back to schchool. staples. that ! was easy.

locke high school in los angeles is not unique. more than 95% of american high schools reported violent incidents in 2006, and in poorer citieses across the country it' an everyday threat to education. but it's a model that locke

works and otothers mayay be insd to follow. more n now from lisaing. >> one morning we arrive atat locke to find a crime scene. a studt has been shot in front of the school. do you feel at alll defeated d because the year has been going pretty well? >> no, i don't. not at all. belief to change it.forces my you know, there is a reality behind these gagates. you know? places thahat we can set up so w kids stop it. or that reality changes a litte bit. >> meanwhile, brandon has been around.been making a turn even his grades have improved. these are recent tests? >> yes. >> so 95%. this one is 20 out of 20. pretty proud of those, huh? >> yyeah. >> compare your grades this year with last year. >> last year i had d's, all d's

and all f's. nonow w i have a's, b >> "jimmy kimmel live," back i 's a 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 worork. >> my volunteer -- >> oh, cool. isis it to important for yoyou get involved? >> if you don't get involved your kids s will think you don' care. it's good to let them know that you're there for them. and that's you -- >> this woman allows -- is catching up on her work while she takak care of her baby. for the sake of her family, she is d determined to get her diploma. atat the enof the year, locke

has fewer dropouts t than in recent memory. a small victory. to do to raise reading leveels and test scores. >> good job. >> during the last week of school, jimmy was studying for his finals. your dad is in prisoson ight no? would you wt to go? >> yeah, i wanted to go, but i couldn't make it b because i've got finals. you know? >> have you ever take finals seriously? >> no. nono. never took the finals this serious. ♪ >> jimmy told us that his graduation would be e the happit day of his life. >> jimmy stoval. >> the only y thing missing -- h mom. but his grandma a was there. this year, locke gradued the second highest number of

students in its history. and is sending more students to four-year universities than ever before. jimmy is hoping he'll be ththe first in his family to get there too. for "nightline," this is lisa ling in los angeles. >> congatulations jimmmmy and all e other gradaduates. our anks to lisa ling. we'll be right bac