MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The kale Caesar salad is a hit at The Pressroom in nearby Lancaster. Daniel Castellanos, a prep cook at the restaurant, says the secret’s in the dressing. He describes it, speaking deliberately but not slowly, clipping off each word briskly, never running two words together. — “All you need is lemon juice, some palm oil that you’ll find at any convenience store or supermarket,” he said.

LOGAN, Utah — The class is “Career Exploration 2,” but some days, it could just as well be called “How to Handle Life.” Teaching Assistant Kristy Lewis runs the class today. She’s working with freshmen on a core skill in both career and life: problem-solving. — Suppose you’ve gone into town for a show, and the buses are no longer running when the show ends. How do you get back to your dorm? “Walking is an option,” she suggests, but it’s a long way, and it’s late. You could take a cab or an Uber ride…

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Today, Matthew Ellickson admits it unprompted: When he was a teenager, he goofed off in school. He didn’t think he could make it into a four-year degree program. — “I started going to the tech school because I figured, ‘You know what? I’m not a very smart kid, I didn’t get good grades. Maybe I can go to a tech school and get a vocational degree.’ It really opened my eyes up to the fact that I could succeed…

JACKSON, Mich. — Katie Stiver, 34, spent a decade working in a long-term care facility, helping people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. — The care she provided was often the most fundamental: feeding, bathing, grooming. She thrived on the personal relationships she cultivated. “They still have so much to give, and they still are people inside. And I feel like the memory forgets, but the heart just does not. …

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As this city climbed out of the 2008 Great Recession, KentuckianaWorks, its regional workforce-development agency, took a new approach to training employees for local businesses: It started teaching people specific skills and awarding them credentials showing that they were superior candidates for entry-level work. — These programs do more than coach the jobless on the soft skills of job hunting and interviewing. People who stick with the training earn valuable certifications that give employers confidence in new hires and cut their training time.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Helen Adeosun made her mark as a striver before she was old enough to drive. At 14, she appeared in a CNN segment on kids and investing, explaining how she followed financial news on mergers and acquisitions and why she believed in saving money. In her early teens, she started a babysitting service. A few years later, she began a lawn-mowing service. — Adeosun’s diligence — and her smarts — eventually got her into graduate school at Harvard, but even a degree from that prestigious institution wasn’t enough to satisfy her.

CHICAGO — Brian Hill lives an audacious mission: He’s out to save 2.3 million people from “The Jerry Springer Show.” — That’s the population now held in America’s prisons and jails. And for Hill, the tawdry slapstick of Springer’s shout show exemplifies what’s wrong with prison: Prisoners have so much time on their hands that they fill with empty distraction — including hours, days and years of daytime TV — rather…

AUSTIN, Texas — When Melvin Hines Jr. began his freshman year of high school in Albany, Georgia, there were 250 people in his class. As his senior year began, only 120 remained. — He’s never forgotten the grinding attrition that stranded so many young people without the most fundamental boost into adult life. “I had friends who got pregnant, friends who died, friends who went to jail. By the time graduation came around, there were 68 of us who actually made it,” he…