Skins of Lightning

Substitute teacher Alkali Niwot has his hands full with his Santa Fe’s Cibola West sixth-grade class. When 95 percent of his students qualify for free lunches, single-parent home motivation and discipline are often limited. Attention spans are short-lived and reading abilities sub-par. Yet Niwot decides there are parallels to both academics and sports. He starts girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams to develop discipline. In a climactic series of park races eventually joining a live ESPN broadcast, a Cibola West Elementary School mixed team, including girls’ race star Katrina De Los Lobos, is permitted to compete in a middle-school race against all odds. All’s well that ends well.