This article features the "Barber School of the Gifted and Talented" in Highland Park, Michigan. The school is located in a tiny 2.96 square-mile, economically challenged city--very challenged--completely surrounded by Detroit's 143 square miles and its almost one million people. It is one of five schools in Highland Park--one preK-5 and two preK-8, one high school (9-12) and a "Career Academy" for 16-19 year-olds who have not yet graduated from high school. The teachers at Barber are there because they want to be, Principal Judy Wimberly makes sure of that. When selecting teachers, she strives to hire what someone described as "the real McCoy."