Crittenton High School

Lucy remembers her arrival at the Crittenton Center three years ago: "It felt so good not to be handcuffed and shackled." Then 14 years old and six months pregnant, she had been transferred to the Lincoln Heights facility by her probation officer after a month in Juvenile Hall. "I'd started running away from home, ditching school," she recalls. "I started getting into trouble--gangs, drugs, violence. I was into stealing cars. One day I got caught."

Lucy remembers her arrival at the Crittenton Center three years ago: "It felt so good not to be handcuffed and shackled." Then 14 years old and six months pregnant, she had been transferred to the Lincoln Heights facility by her probation officer after a month in Juvenile Hall. "I'd started running away from home, ditching school," she recalls. "I started getting into trouble--gangs, drugs, violence. I was into stealing cars. One day I got caught."

In their burgundy and gray plaid skirts, white shirts and plaid ties, they look for all the world like parochial schoolgirls on a chaperoned outing. Then the music starts and, with Doris Pinto Hall out front like a cheerleader, the girls swing into their routine. The music: Whitney Houston's "I'm Everywoman." Meet Doris' Debutantes With Pride, a dance team with a difference.