and i'm gonna help you do that. >> all: ♪ i can do this ♪ i can do it >> to do it, geoffrey canada decided his own school in the harlem children's zone. >> we've created a school to help you all become the smartest boys and girls in the country. >> it's a charter school, so canada is able to run it his way free from the bureaucracy and restrictions in the public school system. classes are smaller and school days longer. kids come in on saturdays, and summer vacation, that only lasts three weeks. >> we will always ask permission before leaving the group? >> yes. >> discipline is strict, and so is the dress code. to teach kids healthy eating habits, there are cooking classes using ingredients from the school's own organic garden. and if any of the kids get sick, this on-site clinic provides free medical, mental health, and even dental care. >> good afternoon. >> canada calls his school the promise academy, and this is what he tells parents at the start of each year. >> we promise our families if your children are with us, we guarantee they're going to get into college, and we're going to sti

the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st. >> in the world of education, geoffrey canada is consideredk star. with his project, the harlem children's zone, canada has flooded 97 square blocks of manhattan with a wide variety of free social, medical, and educational services for over 11,000 children, including some living outside the zone. in 2012, he'll spend $95 million, 2/3 of which will come from the private sector. ed bradley first met geoffrey canada in 2005, but back then, there was no way to tell if the zone was working. now the results are in, and as anderson cooper reported in 2009, they are very impressive. for geoffrey canada, however, it's only just the beginning. >> you grow up in america, and you're told from day one this is the land of opportunity, that everybody has an equal chance to make it in this country, and then you look at places like harlem, and you say, "that is absolutely a lie." >> so you're trying to level the playing field between kids here in harlem and, what, middle-class kids in a suburb? >> that's exactly what we think we have to do. you know, if you gr

so if you look at geoffrey canada to become a model for the nation, when you look at the eagle academy and when you look at eagle academy had what they are doing in side of the system, you are able to find people that are able to make things work and sustained demo for a long period of time. >> hello everyone. thanks for the great panel. i am marguerite. i'm going to be a junior college. and my question -- well, basically, similar to the woman before me. what can we do have a grassroots level? i feel like oftentimes we focus on the system and changing the system but this time i've had the great privilege of volunteering for the project the great national nonprofit that work with the poor communities and the focus on after-school development programs. so i am wondering what can each of us in this room do collectively because i think we can be empowered. there's power in numbers. something that can to my mind is each of us in this room mentor a child and invested in a young man or woman that i kind of wanted to know your thoughts on what grassroots what can we do -- >> right to passage p