Whatever It Takes

"Canada's goal is to counter the downward pull of the streets — not by mimicking educationally opportunistic white middle-class culture but by 'poaching an idea or two ... like adapting a recipe from a foreign cuisine' and blending it with the community's own values and beliefs. Paul Tough's Whatever It Takes brings you inside the Promise Academy and into the mind of a visionary who has known failure (his school continues to struggle), yet has the nerve to keep the future squarely in view." — O: The Oprah Magazine, September 2008

Photos by Alex Tehrani

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geoff map

Geoffrey Canada in front of a map of the Harlem Children’s Zone, which stretches across 97 blocks in central Harlem. Canada’s plan – his mission – is to flood the zone with educational, social, and medical services, to create a safety net woven so tightly that children in the neighborhood just can’t slip through.

Whatever It Takes Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America

Whatever It Takes
Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America