As she began reading her poem, Rogers seemed unsure of herself, her head bowed and her voice shaking. But after reciting the first few phrases, a noticeable change came over Rogers and she flew through the rest of the poem, her voice growing louder and more confident with each stanza.

Rogers is one of 21 students at the Durham Literacy Center's Teen Career Academy who were mentored by Duke University students as part of their "Durham Through the Lens of Literacy" education class. Twelve Duke students spent two hours each week tutoring the teenagers, all high school dropouts working toward their GED.

As part of the program, the Duke students helped the teens with reading, writing, math and language skills. Realizing that the teens needed motivation for their writing, the Duke class suggested bringing the group to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke and letting the art there inspire them.

Last month the students and their mentors visited the exhibition "Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art." After studying the paintings, the students began writing prose and poetry related to the theme of dreams, inspired by a Langston Hughes poem. The past few weeks, the tutors worked with the teens to develop their writing, which they presented to an audience of about 50 Thursday afternoon at the museum.

"This project embodies what we hope art does," said Kim Rorschach, the museum's director. "We hope it moves them and inspires them in unexpected ways, to think and to write."

Rogers chose to write her poem based on the painting "Walking Blindly," which portrays a woman rejoicing while surrounded by a crowd of unhappy people. "The painting inspired me because there was this woman and she wasn't letting anyone bring her down," Rogers said. "She stood there with her head high above the others making her feel like she was worth something and will be something in the future."

Rogers said that she didn't like the Teen Center Academy much when she joined four months ago, but she said the painting and poetry project interested her. Rogers, 17, dropped out of high school about 1½ years ago. She said that once she receives her GED, she wants to go to college and study computer technology. Rogers said she's like to go to N.C. State University or Duke University.

The Durham Literacy Center has helped more than 8,000 under-educated adults, working with high school dropouts to help them gain the reading, writing, math, language and educational credentials they need to receive their GED and eventually earn a living wage.

According to a study cited by the center, in 2001 there were 5.8 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 not enrolled in high school and who hadn't received their high school diploma or its equivalent. Durham County has one of the highest dropout rates in the country. In 2001, the rate of Durham County high school students who failed to graduate in four years was 48 percent, according to the study.

Durham Literacy Center officials said the program with Duke helps to narrow the gap between Durham's privileged and under-privileged. "Durham is a city of extremes, of extreme wealth and extreme poverty," said Reginald Hodges, the center's executive director. "Fortunately there are efforts like this to bring these two groups together."

Sy Mauskopf, co-instructor of the Duke education course, said his class focuses on "the rapidly growing problem of illiteracy," calling it "the major crisis in America right now."

Alex Baranpuria, a student in the class, called educational equality his generation's civil rights issue, explaining that it's a harder fight because it's a less visible problem. Describing his work with one particular student, Baranpuria said, "People like Marcus are expected to fall through the cracks, but neither he nor I will allow something like that to happen."

Several speakers at Thursday's presentation said the program highlights Duke's positive contributions to the Durham community -- seemingly forgotten actions in light of the university's recent bad press.

"Duke students know what it is to give back and I hope that we can continue to be more authentically engaged with the community," said Lucy Haagen, Duke professor and co-instructor of the education class.