This article discusses how reading for their own purposes affected struggling teens. It shares the authors' story, which demonstrates the importance and power of focusing on students' purposes, as highlighted in Standard 12, a standard not often addressed or assessed, but one that matters to students and teachers alike. The authors describe how a student's attempt to derail a lesson became an opportunity to design a student-directed curriculum based on highlighting students' purposes for reading and writing. (Contains 1 note.)