about the world around you. our first story sounds like a script for a movie which is fitting. michael santos' story begins with the movie scar face. as a young cuban, he fell under the spell of the movie actor. it was the beginning of an incredible story of crime, punishment and redemption. >> did everybody check your e-mail today? i sent you ten questions. >> if any of michael's san francisco state students began this year asking the teacher how he spent his summer, the answer might have surprised them. michael was in federal custody. >> i just want to share my experience with you. >> then again prison is where michael santos has spent the last 26 summers of his life. >> 2 years. 9500 days. 9500 days from entrance to release. >> in 1987 michael was convicted in federal court of being a drug king pen of shipping kilos of cocaine from miami to his hometown in seattle. >> i made every bad decision you could make. >> before michael spent a single of the nights in prison, michael made one good decision. he picked up a philosophy book and learned. >> when socrates had an opportunity to escape, he said i'm not going to do that. i live in democracy. i have the right to change the law but not to break the laws. that is what totally transformed my life. >> michaele vowed then and there to do his time, educate himself and become a contributing member to society. what followed was an undergraduate degree, a masters degree. he was on his way to a phd until the warden shut that down. >> the warden said this is a threat to our security. we're not a university. this is a prison. >> still michael says that enabled him to focus on writing, aided at that point by his wife carroll. they met while michael was behind bars and have been married ten years now. while in prison, michael published more than half a dozen books about his experience and prison life in general. professors around the country began adding his works to their courses. it was one school that decided to add michael himself. >> i said really? it was an amazing moment for me to think this university was going to hire me. >> the transition was not without the bumps. >> the biggest surprise was learning how to drive. i didn't know that i had forgotten how to drive. i didn't know when i forgot or that i didn't know how to drive. when i got behind the wheel i realized i don't know how to drive. >> if you are the bright mind this institution cultivates -- >> michael true to form, has conquered that by now. traveling the country talking about what he sees as the biggest evil in the country. >> everybody in here knows somebody that's been incarcerated. >> flib can become more than the bad decisions of their past. >> stand up and be heard. >> in addition to his teaching position and speaking engagements, michael developed a program called straight a guide to help ex-cons transition back into society. our next story interestingly enough begins with breaking the law but not nearly as serious an example. this time it was a traffic ticket. one that tracey pete geico once got. a ticket that led to community service that ultimately led to her starting a program combining her two great passions, fashion and helping her hometown. in the basement of a church, in the heart of the bay view, might to some seem a long way from the fashion houses of new york, paris and milan. to air el is a start to the top. the woman she's talking about are instructors for a unique non profit. a 9-year-old program where a hand full of young urban women are prepared for a career in high fashion for free. >> when we apply for college and get accepted, what happens? >> meeting weekly in the summer and school year, girls learn sewing and design, french, lectures from fashion professionals and a trip to new york's fashion week have been part of the program. ar el has been with them five rigorous years now. >> it can get overbearing. overbearing gets you to high success. >> the woman behind all this is the woman behind the camera. tracey peace geico. born and raised in the bay view. her love of fashion was sparked in the very church sanctuary above their heads. >> in the 1970s i would be a small girl sitting in the pews. this looked like a run way in paris. i've never seen women dressed so beautif beautifully. >> it wasn't until she ditched her job in banking to go to paris. she's now a consultant and task masker to these girls. >> if you give these kids a pass, the world doesn't give you a pass. there's rules and regulations. you have to get up and go to work on time. you have to come prepared here. >> ultimately tracey says her goal is not to provide the world with great fashion designers although that would be nice. no, she just wants to provide the world with a few more great people. now a sad update to the bay area proud story we brought you this summer. this resignated with people around the world. the story of jenn bullock lane, the 35-year-old stylist of mountain view diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this we're given four to six months to live. she wanted to make the most of her time left. it was going to be a small ceremony until the east bay wedding planner heard jenn's story. in two weeks, erica convinced more than 60 vendors to donate $60,000 in goods and services to give jenn her dream wedding. it was a story viewed and shared tens of thousands of times by people all over the world. jenn's wedding day was a memory she cherished for the rest of her life which ended the morning of october 10th at her home, her husband by her side. one horse with one horsepower. that makes you feel pretty dumb doesn't it? [ laughs ] this is literally 360 times more powerful than you. look at you. you're worthless. there you have it -- 360 times better than a horse. staring contest -- go. i win. ♪ he loves me. he loves me not. he loves me. he loves me not. ♪ he loves me! that's right. [ mom ] warm and flaky in 15, everyone loves pillsbury grands! [ girl ] make dinner pop! so i should probably get the last roll... yeah but i practiced my bassoon. [ mom ] and i listened. [ brother ] i can do this. [ imitates robot ] everyone deserves ooey, gooey, pillsbury cinnamon rolls. make the weekend pop. the bay area is filled with dog lovers. perhaps the only thing people love more is the underdog. which explains why one san francisco non profit is enjoying success. one giving old dogs a new life. >> we like to play ball. >> for two partners in a failed relationship, judy and her dog flower seem to get along great. >> this is what we like to do everyday. >> judy says flower is the best dog she's ever had. what's failed about it? well 13-year-old flower came to live with judy as a foster dog, a temporary situation until someone else adopted her. that someone turned out to be judy. in the business that's called a foster failure though judy only sees the success in it and how it never would have happened without muttville and sherry franklin. seven years ago, sherry hair stylist by trade came upon her passion of life volunteers, touched by the fate of most senior dogs. >> a lot of older dogs at the time, quite a while ago, weren't making it out of the shelter. >> sherry opened up not just her heart but her home. for six year, a senior dog rescue muttville, was run out of sherry's home. it's proven such a success they've opened up their space now. many senior dogs up for adoption live a cage free life at their headquarters. sherry thought the first year when they adopted out 27 dogs was a good year. last year the number was 500. >> in the next two weeks we will have rescued 2,000 dogs. 2,000 senior dogs. most dogs would have been killed at shelters. we've saved 2,000 lives. >> this might be the dogs coming. >> as great as 2,000 is, it's on a fraction of the need. sherry says for every one senior dog they take in, they say no to 20 others. the lucky ones chosen based on good dispositions though not necessarily medical condition. sherry says vet care is the number one expense costing average of $1,000 per dog to get them ready to adopt. when that happens, the only one happier than the dog is sherry. >> i fell in love with this. this is where my passion lies. i feel incredibly lucky i found it. that's why i'm doing it. >> we just heard from sherry muttville did indeed this past week rescue the 2000th dog. if your like other americans you probably caught college football. 39 million went to a game last year. wherever that many americans gathering, bob williams figured was a good place to honor some of the bravest americans. like many other big time sports, the college football season has grown over the years. this year's schedule from kickoff classic in august to national championship in january runs 19 weeks. it's just one of those weeks in particular though that has consumed bob williams' life over the past two years. the one in november closest to veterans day. >> i love my country. i express it in various dways. >> the first way was at the naval sports academy. a two sports athlete. it wouldn't serve one year in world war ii and ten years after that. more recently bob became associated with stanford university and serves on the athletic board. in fact it was bob's idea to start a tradition at stanford's new stadium where the players stay on the field after the game and sing the school's alma mater with the fans. bob liked the reception that got so much, it sparked in him a bigger idea. >> the theme of honoring veterans at their home football game closest to veterans day. division one and division two and division three. >> honoring them at every college and university in the country which meant writing a letter to every college and university in the country. >> i wrote over 600 letters to colleg colleges. the only thing more remarkable that he managed to send those letters is that so many were answered. >> it was almost like christmas. >> in the affirmative. >> everyday some great stuff. this was the stack of replies from college presidents. >> by now bob figures every school he asks to take part will in some way. some continuing old tradition, others starting new ones. veterans everywhere getting the thanks they deserve. >> i like projects. this particular one caught my eye and i thought i could pull it off. i did. >> bob in fact was so encouraged by the responses from colleges and universities he expanded the outreach this year to high schools. if you hear the public address announcer ask veterans to rise and be acknowledged at the game you're attending over the veterans day weekend, you'll know who to thank. coming up, this challenged athlete shows his true strength and determination in ways that go beyond any try agent long. to have memories of kids jumping up and down. >> finding the way to turn no into yes and make a change for the better. is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant we've been following the past year. the remarkable story of jeff smith of san jose. we learned of jeff when a short e-mail was sent to the station. the amputee, last competitor to cross the finish line at the 2012 world championships one-half hour after the finish line closed. jeff's story of determination was remarkable and only gets better. they called someone who competes on a prosthetic leg a challenged athlete. what they should call jeff schmitt is a transition from a negative into a positive and do it more than once. we first met jeff and wife jenny not long after he return ed from the 2012 ironman championship. jeff told us he kept going that night in hawaii because he had come too far to quit and he wasn't talking about the 140 mile race. a star high school soccer player, jeff's leg was shattered by a violent tackle 15 years ago. the next decade of his life was dominated by failed surgeries and drug dependent says. jenny raised the idea of amputation. jeff ultimately agreed and asked the doctor to cut his leg off. >> if something in your life is causing you anguish and you can get rid of it, what do you do? get rid of it. >> jeff says losing that leg turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him. believe it or not, so was not finishing cona in time. >> welcome to our kickoff event. >> jeff's story of perseverance won him the attention of the triathlon community. soon he was teaming up with the which aed athletes foundation raising money to give prosthetic running legs to children who couldn't afford them. he was invited back to cona given a second chance to conquer the biggest race of his life. jeff trained like never before, more than 5,000 miles on the road and in the water to make sure he was ready this year. and he was. >> i was feeling prepared, calm and ready to take on the day. >> jeff felt so good in fact his eyes could see the hollywood ending up ahead. his calf muscle though had other ideas. >> it was so painful. it had been cramped up the whole time. it started spazing. >> a later mri diagnosed it a 0 90% tear. he quit ten miles into the run. >> i was disappointed because i wanted to finish. i think i was more disappointed that i was letting down my sponsors. i still feel that. sometimes that still hurts a little bit. >> it seems jeff's story didn't have the hollywood ending. it happens to have a better one. the money he raised for challenged kids makes it all worth while. what kind of role model would he be now if he didn't keep pushing, turning defeat into victory? >> the lesson in this is just because you failed doesn't mean you give up. i failed twice now at this race. that doesn't mean i won't ever be back. i will cross that finish line one day. >> so far jeff has helped to raise close to $80,000 for the challenge for kids program. young students learned it's never too early to make your mark. >> i've watched little leaders in the making. it's been one of the highlights of my life. >> coming up, how one school group's crayola crusade has colored the change in hundreds of schools. from what they can do, eat, watch, no is a word kids hear a lot. no is an answer students wouldn't settle for. the earth may be better off for it. every wednesday at noon, the multipurpose room at the sun valley elementary takes on a singular purpose, saving the world. something the environmental school's green team knows they can do because they're already doing it. the proof they tell you is in the palm of their hand. >> i've never been involved in anything quite like this. >> land wilson is the children's author, environmentalists and father of two sun valley kids when they took over the green team last spring. it was a discussion about plastic pollution that got the kids thinking. >> the topic of crayola plastic markers came up. everybody could relate to that. >> and how the markers were not recycleable, a big deal since crayola makes half a billion a year. the green team asked crayola to start a take back program. >> we called and talk today product safety department. they basically said nope, there's no one you can talk to about that, sorry. >> but no is a word kids don't like to hear. be it from teachers, parent, or major corporations. so on change.org, land's kids started a petition. not only did 90,000 sign it, others joined in the crusade adding their voice. the movement grew until one day this spring, crayola changed their no into a yes. >> i have memories of kids jumping up and down. it was awesome. >> we were really happy because we accomplished something. >> how many pounds is that? >> lands says 600 schools are taking part in crayola's program. it's a great thing for the you future of the earth he says, even greater for the future of these kids. >> they're watching this thing unfold like wow, we've done this. i make a difference. i can change things. i can do things. my voice matters. i've watched little leaders in the making. it's been one of the highlights of my life. >> one, two, three. >> we hope you've enjoyed this past half hour of hearing what's right with your world. catch new bay area proud stories tuesdays and thursdays in our 5:00 p.m. newscast. we'll see you then. we're going to start with the news from up magazine that carey is well into her pregnancy. >> very exited. i'm get to go wear a lot of my different. >>reporter: hat which apparently include motherhood and glowing star the and last public event on october 17. arms were across for most of the interview giving her a double layer of protection the over the belly of the designer dress. according to us kerry around 4 month ago with football star husband. but fiercely private and hush hush wedding surprised many and no surprise not commenting on the baby news. >> i don't follow the rule. scandal. i know you are talking about my show. i'm talking about your body.

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