Kasey Hill’s first position as a teacher was at DeValls Bluff High School, nestled in an antebellum town in rural Arkansas. DeValls Bluff, like so many little towns in America, was withering away. The railroad, once the lifeblood of the town, no longer stopped there. Jobs became few, drug and alcohol use grew. The people who could get out, got out, and those who stayed went on welfare. The town was stuck in a self perpetuating negative lifestyle loop.