In this article, the author describes Neighborhood Bridges, The Children's Theatre Company's (CTC) critical literacy program that gives young people from the most impoverished and troubled neighborhoods in Minneapolis the courage and power to speak their minds both orally and through the written word in such a daunting setting. The 2003-04 school year marks the 3rd year that CTC is collaborating with Powderhorn Community School (one of six schools in the Twin Cities that uses the Bridges program). In each of the three fifth grade classes, a Teaching Artist comes once a week for the entire school year to collaborate with the classroom teacher. The main goals of Neighborhood Bridges are to animate children to question the world around them and to participate in that world by telling their own story.