Entry 5:

BALTIMORE, Md.—There's this look some people get when they watch the KIPP orchestra perform; I'd label it "dreamy fixation." They're clearly listening to the music, and their eyes are glued to the kids, but you can just tell their minds are somewhere else entirely, processing lofty thoughts about public education and racial justice and multicultural America. Afterward they say things that aren't quite as eloquent as their thoughts, but do the trick, like: "They make me feel so proud," or "That bongo drummer is our future," or "I'm sending KIPP my $600 tax refund."

There's also this look middle-school students get when they've taken a bus 3,500 miles across the country; I'd label it "glazed fatigue." These kids are still having a blast, as tonight's pillow fights seemed to indicate, but they have lost some of the energy from their step, and their smiles, while still plentiful, are fraying around the edges. It's a good thing we're returning to New York tomorrow, as I can sense that another 10-hour trip with stops for peanut butter and jelly wouldn't go over too well.

Despite their fatigue, these guys have become wizened professionals by now, and the concerts over the last two days have been spectacular. Yesterday we were in Washington, playing at KEY Academy, a KIPP Network school (that's Knowledge Empowers You Academy, a Knowledge Is Power Program Network school, in case you missed the point). Today we traveled to Baltimore for two afternoon concerts: one at the beautiful Baltimore Harborplace and another at an elementary school in the downtrodden Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood.

The Harborfront show was my favorite so far. The orchestra set up in a miniamphitheater in the middle of the touristy plaza, and by the end of the third song, Anita Baker's "Sweet Love," I counted over 300 people watching, from old ladies to tourists to businessmen from Hong Kong to people on their lunch break. Hundreds, if not thousands, more listened or watched from nearby park benches, shops, and restaurants.

Overheard in the audience between pieces:

"When you hear people complain about young folks today, you got to drag them here."—A Verizon employee on a lunch break from the nearby corporate headquarters.

"I love the little guy on the center drum, he's a live wire."—Elderly woman with cane, watching the concert from behind the stage (an angle that provided a rare unobstructed view of the rhythm section).

"Don't worry about it."—A professionally dressed young woman holding a cardboard pizza box, after being told her pizza was probably getting cold, without turning her gaze away from the orchestra.

" 'Freebird!' "—Two businessmen in ties carrying drinks out of the City Lights Seafood Restaurant.

Later in the afternoon, a small slip on an otherwise great day. On the way past the abandoned row houses of Sandtown-Winchester on the way to the second performance, a few of the KIPPsters began poking fun at the kids in the neighborhood. The teachers let them have it, reminding them that when they take off their KIPP shirts and walk around their own neighborhoods in the Bronx, people say the same things about them. The point hit home.

Rain delayed the concert, which was to be outside in the schoolyard, and everybody hung out in the auditorium, where some of the keyboard players took over the piano and banged out Havah Nagilah as the other kids clapped along. (One day, I thought, one of these kids is going to marry a Jew, hear this at the wedding, and grow nostalgic for the eighth-grade.) When the sun came out and the abbreviated concert got underway, Gilmor students began swaying their heads to the beat and their teachers actually started dancing as the orchestra played Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know." Afterward, one of the teachers commented: "These kids are from the same kinds of neighborhoods as our students. Our children can do this."

Which is pretty much what the KIPP students set out to prove to others, and to themselves, on this trip: that hard work and strong character can get you anywhere. It's amazing to contrast them to the other kids staying in same Embassy Suites hotel that we are in. Running, shouting, and impoliteness are the norm. Before the trip, this wouldn't have struck me as unusual, but now I'm just appalled that the rest of the world could be so ignorant of the three B's.