Rehema Ellis writes

While I was interviewing Monica Groves in Atlanta recently, I couldn't help but wish that she were still in the classroom and that my son could have her as a teacher -- if only she moved to New York. This young woman is exactly the kind of person everyone wants in school: She is smart, engaging, curious, full of wonderful ideas, and what's most important, she believes in children and their ability to learn.  

Ms. Groves, as her students respectfully referred to her, is also someone who's not afraid to reveal that from time to time she needs help. The country got to know her strengths and weaknesses through the award-winning Dateline story, "The Education of Ms. Groves." She was gracious enough to allow an NBC Dateline crew to follow her through her first year of teaching in 2004.

That took confidence and courage.

She was right out of college, 22 years old, fresh-faced, eager and unprepared for the enormous challenges awaiting her in the classroom.

In a 2006 personal essay, Groves wrote: “Over the course of my first year, I learned that education isn’t just about books, and education doesn’t just flow from teacher to student,” adding that “you can’t teach the child if you don’t have a positive relationship with them.”

Groves spent two years teaching at Jean Childs Young middle school in Atlanta before she went to Harvard University to pursue a Master’s degree in teaching and curriculum.

The hard-earned lessons she picked up along the way helped prepare her for her new role as a curriculum specialist for KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, a network of free public charter schools.

Programs such as KIPP, which stands for the Knowledge is Power Program, have promoted a longer school day and and principals’ power to hire and fire staff at will. At the first KIPP school, in Houston, Texas, co-founders Dave Levin and Michael Feinberg filled the walls with slogans such as “Work Hard,”“Be Nice” and “There Are No Shortcuts.” But KIPP schools have come under fire from some observers for allegedly screening for the most driven students, with regular public schools left to educate the rest.  

In her new role, Groves is still eager and excited about students. She smiles easily and laughs when talking about kids.

But rather than teaching in a classroom, she now guides more than 80 teachers in five schools. As her boss, Katie Rigby says, Groves is "creating the (blueprint) so that teachers know what to teach, how best to teach, and when to teach it throughout the year.”

Groves says teachers actively shape young minds in the classroom. "But there’s a lot that needs to happen inside the classroom and outside for us to really maximize what kids deserve to have," she said.

When she’s not working in small groups with teachers and principals, Groves is at her cubicle making phone calls, gathering information, sorting through materials, and prepping for her next meeting. Her work space is very quiet. It's a vast difference from what life was like for her when she was in front of students.

"Although it doesn't always have the hugs and smiles of kids every day, it's nice to feel like you're still part of a team, and you know it's a critical part,” Groves says. Helping teachers become better educators, she says, has been rewarding.

"Collaboration makes a difference," Groves said, "when you’re not just an island, when you’re not just in the classroom figuring it out by yourself and you only have your lens as the only lens to kind of check your reality and see what’s going on."

And she’s offering exactly what so many teachers tell me they need: professional development and curriculum support.

With all her she brings to the table, Groves would be a terrific leader of an entire school district someday. Everyone in the community would be better for it, I think, because she's someone who genuinely cares about education for the kids' sake.  Knowing that, I wouldn't be surprised if Groves, as the future school leader, found a way to make long, meaningful visits to schools to offer encouragement and instruction.

I say that because when I listened to her talk about students and what she learned while she was teaching, there's no doubt her heart is still there with the kids -- in the classroom.

Blood pressure, known for decades as the “silent killer” is a well known risk factor for stroke. And along with the familiar other factors, such as smoking, lack of exercise and obesity, it contributes greatly to the risk of heart attack. For years the number 140/90 was considered the danger zone one shouldn’t cross into, the dreaded hypertension (high blood pressure) territory. But eight years ago, public health officials created another category called “pre-hypertension” starting at 120/80. How dangerous is pre-hypertension? In a study out Wednesday in the Journal Neurology, scientists at the University of California San Diego surveyed 10 large studies looking at pre-hypertension. They found that there is increased risk for stroke, and not surprisingly it gets higher along with the blood pressure, ranging from a 22 percent risk increase to 79 percent. You can read the research here.

It was an international media event and I was honored to take part in the coverage. On July 11, 1979. Skylab returned to earth after  officials closed a huge swath of airspace and many genuinely feared  someone might get hurt. If you are worried about the satellite crashing back to earth tonight, please keep in mind that Skylab was more than 10 times as heavy and ultimately did no damage

A few months ago Andy Franklin, now the international producer for Nightly News with Brian Williams, unearthed some black and white photos taken while he and I were in NBC broadcast positions near NASA headquarters in Washington. Such photos are always stark reminder of the passage of time.

Our Skylab reports were an around-the-clock effort and I was honored be the junior member of the three-person reporting team next to two giants of early television news, Doug Kiker and Bob Abernathy.

Skylab,  a converted piece of a Saturn V rocket from the Apollo era, had been launched in 1973 with every expectation that the space shuttle would be built in time to lift to a higher orbit. Three missions with three-member crews laid the groundwork for the current international space station. But delays in the shuttle program pushed its first launch to 1981 so Skylab was left to fall out of the earth's orbit.

Skylab’s demise created much news and many gimmicks. The San Francisco Examiner offered $10,000 to the first person to show up at its offices with a piece of Skylab. Its competitor the San Francisco Chronicle offered $200,000 to anyone who was hurt by a chunk of the satellite.

The Chronicle never had to pay but the Examiner did. Most of the satellite fell in pieces across the uninhabited Australian Outback and Australian teenager Stan Thornton flew with his souvenir to San Francisco to collect the reward.

NASA controllers had tried to get all the debris into the ocean but they miscalculated and later admitted they were worried they had even miscalculated more and feared Skylab would hit the Pacific Northwest of North America.

Tony Bennett is under fire for what he said about 9/11 during an interview on Howard Stern's satellite radio show. 

By Chris Jansing, NBC News

As a reporter you never know which story or which person will strike a chord with viewers. In the case of last week’s devastating numbers on poverty in America – it was both.

We profiled a Florida family caught in an economic vise: parents who lost their jobs, a home in foreclosure, two teenagers wondering if they’d be able to stay in Florida, not knowing if they’d graduate with their friends.  With tears streaming down her face, 15-year-old Gavi described how hard it is, at such a young age, to be dealing with so much stress.

Thirteen hundred miles away, another American family was watching – deeply affected by what they saw.

On the surface, the families seemed to have nothing in common.

John Vann went to Wharton Business School and owns a successful financial services company. His four children are college graduates who own their homes. Angel and Anairis Hidalgo both lost their jobs almost three years ago: he, as a building maintenance manager, she as a bank teller.   

John and Dessi Vann’s neighborhood is populated with beautiful stone houses, manicured lawns and impeccable landscaping. The Hidalgos' is small and simple.

What John Vann saw, though, was similarity. A home, like his, filled with a loving family. And Gavi made him think of his own daughters – and he believed that she deserved a future like theirs. So he emailed his girls, talked with Dessi and his son Aaron and decided as a family to reach out. They wanted to help.

There is something about John Vann that is authentic. I sensed it first in his emails, in phone calls, and then meeting him and his wonderful family. When he talks about living the American Dream, it sounds like an imperative, never corny or overdone. What started as a vague idea was soon taking shape in the mind of a goal-oriented businessman. John developed a six-point plan to help the Hidalgos. And by the time I arrived in Texas to meet the Vanns, he had already made contact with his office in Florida.

What happened next John calls "divine coincidence." It turns out that one of his employees drives by the Hidalgos' neighborhood every day on her way to work. With her as an intermediary, John would get his plan moving.

Step one: Find firm financial footing. The Hidalgos have been living on $189 a week. The Vann family is pledging $2,000 a month to help them get back on their feet. 

Step two: Use John’s network of contacts to find them jobs. 

Step three: Help them save their home. A steady job will be critical, and while the Hidalgos have had the help of a foreclosure lawyer, John is offering additional, expert help.

John Vann put his objectives in writing. Number six? To restore belief in the American Dream.

When I went to the Hidalgos' home on Sunday, they had been to Mass. The kids were hungry, mom was cooking and they were going to sit down to a Sunday meal. John’s employee in Florida, Margarita, came over with a check, a first installment on what Angel believes will be renewing his family’s American Dream.

They’re all really great people. When I talked with Angelo, 13, and Gavi they told me how hard it is to see their parents struggling.  But I wanted to know what had been hardest for THEM. Gavi told me that when her mom and dad lost their jobs, she went to put in applications. But she wasn’t 16 and couldn’t get a job. She wanted so desperately to help. Angelo said, almost reluctantly, that there are things he’d like to have. But for the last three years there have been no presents at Christmas, or on his birthday. But those concerns paled in comparison to leaving their home, which, as Gavi put it, "holds so many memories." And they didn’t want to leave their school and their friends.

Anairis and Gavi had tears streaming down their faces when we told them about the Vanns' offer to help. It seemed almost too good to be true, that a complete stranger on the other side of the country would care about them so much that they would reach out. 

Just two days after getting in touch with the Hidalgos, John helped Angel update his resume. Angel’s already had an interview, and job prospects are promising. 

Fourteen million Americans are out of work and 46 million now live below the poverty line. It’s overwhelming, and John Vann would be the first to say no one person can fix the problem. But any single person can be part of the solution. It may sound trite, like something on one of those motivational posters you buy at the mall. But if you stood as I did, next to the Hidalgo family in Florida, delivering a message of hope from the Vann family in Texas, you surely would have been – as I was - deeply moved by the unwavering generosity of the American people.

This weekend, Brian Williams was at ground zero to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and he traveled to the White House to interview President Barack Obama.

For more behind-the-scenes photos, click here.