Alberto Manzi takes an exam, getting a high grade. He takes the opportunity to express his ideas about teaching troubled young people. There's trouble at the reformatory, and Alberto steps in.

Ricotta can't believe his eyes when Manzi comes to take him back to his inmates. The kids are incredulous, too, and Manzi, having gained their respect, can finally begin teaching.

Alberto and the kids at the reformatory all lie down on the ground to see the clouds better. They let their imaginations run wild. Alberto takes Ida and Alda to their new home.

The prison director refuses Alberto's request for writing materials, so he takes matters into his own hands, and learns a thing or two from his pupils, too.

Alberto becomes a hero by bringing his kids some pencils. They start to feel the thrill of simply being able to write their own names.

The kids have gotten to the point where they can write much more than their own names. But what then? Alberto comes up with a wonderful idea.

Manzi's pencil ruse gets found out and he is called into the director's office.

The director of the reformatory has done a bit of thinking and comes to see the boys, a rare occurence. Manzi, with his proverbial foot in the door, keeps trying to push it open even wider. There is news on the home front, too.

The reformatory director is clearly affected by what his inmates have written. Meanwhile, the magazine takes shape, involving getting it typed, collated, and stapled.

Alberto goes out on a limb with a pretty amazing surprise for his pupils. Ida is quite concerned, but Alberto is adamant.

Alberto took a huge risk when he decided to take the boys to the seaside. In fact, he wasn't ready for how out of control they would be.

Alberto Manzi gets his degree after his oral exam defending his dissertation, but now he has some tough decisions to make about his future.

Alberto is doing the right thing, but it's not easy. He goes to the reformatory for a last meeting with the director. This is the finale of the first of two episodes in this mini-series.

Some years have passed since the first episode, and Alberto and Ida's family has grown. Alberto's friend Eugenio shows up one day with a very important gift for the family. Everyone is thrilled except for Alberto. Back at the university, where Alberto had accepted a job, his superior is interrupted in the library by someone looking for Professor Manzi.

It's the first day of school after the summer vacation and Manzi is getting his class together. There are some new kids and they aren't all made to feel welcome by the class. In Italy, in elementary school, at least at that time, it was customary for kids to have the same teacher every year.