In for a Penny

When Connie Kendall arrives at Penny Bassett's house with an armload of chocolate, she finds her friend in a panic. The hospital has called that morning to cancel Penny's art program after a major donor backed out, and Pastor Juan Reyes has suggested she teach art at the juvenile detention center instead. Penny is terrified of the idea, convinced she isn't forceful enough to handle teenagers with criminal records. Connie reminds her that she has always wanted her teaching to inspire people who are struggling, and asks where better to do that than a detention center. Penny agrees to try, but only if Connie comes along as her assistant for a few weeks.

At the center, Pastor Juan explains that a security guard will monitor every class, since the previous teacher, Mindy, quit after a student argument ended with the classroom smashed up. Penny's first lesson is rocky. A boy named Kyle heckles her nonstop, mocking her credentials and asking if she brought coloring books, while another student, Ben, sticks up for her. After class, Kyle dumps his self-portrait in the trash on his way out. Ben stays to help clean up and admits he used to draw all the time but has been trying to stop, because his graffiti got him into trouble. Connie tells him he just needs a better outlet and mentions that her friend Becky wants a mural painted on her barn. Meanwhile, Penny rescues Kyle's ruined portrait and studies it. It is dark and depressing, all black and gray, but the perspective and composition show real talent.

The next class goes even worse. When Penny asks the students to use color to communicate emotion, Kyle refuses to touch the colored pencils, knocks over his desk, and threatens to throw a jar of paintbrushes before Juan hauls him out. Discouraged, Penny hides at home searching for art videos to show instead of teaching, until Connie makes her stop and think about what she did differently at the hospital. Penny remembers how she came early and stayed late, kept a jar of chocolates on her desk, and really talked with her students. Connie gently asks whether she's just uncomfortable getting close to these kids, and admits she gets nervous too, "But I figure it's God shoving me out of my comfort zone." As they talk about how Kyle never uses color, Penny suddenly shouts, "Color!" She has figured something out, and she needs to talk to Juan.

Out at the farm, Ben has gotten special permission to paint four barn murals for Becky. His first attempt at the Battle of Jericho turns out so gruesome that Connie and Penny can barely look at it. Ben is ready to quit, but they insist that first tries are almost always bad, and Juan stays to help him find the right tone.

Back at the center, Penny invites Kyle in on a day without class, offers him bonbons, and announces she is taking him up on his old offer to teach her spray painting, producing a discount-store airbrush with instructions in German. As they puzzle over it, she makes him a deal: answer one easy question correctly and she'll get him out of the class. The question is what color her shirt is. Kyle refuses to answer, and Penny reveals what she has figured out: her shirt is green, and Kyle is color blind. He hasn't been avoiding color out of stubbornness, but out of fear of looking silly in front of the others. Penny hands him a pair of color-correction glasses the hospital found for her. Kyle puts them on, goes quiet, and simply says, "Okay. Let's finish putting the airbrush together." Penny knows they work.

A week later, Ben unveils his new mural: a peaceful painting of baby Moses floating down the Nile, which everyone loves. At the next class, Kyle is as ornery as ever, trading insults with Ben, who fires back that his mural is worth more than Kyle's 1955 sunglasses. Afterward, Connie wonders whether Penny's breakthrough with Kyle was real, since his redone self-portrait looks just as dark and gloomy as before. But Penny points out one small change: in his hand, Kyle has drawn a red paintbrush. As Penny puts it, "I guess he sees himself as an artist after all."