Sara is dismayed when one of her favorite students, a bright 13-year-old girl, announces that she is getting married. Shannon Terhune guest stars as Jenny Willis, who is about to escape the responsibilities of her motherless home by marrying a young cowboy (Tom Skerritt), despite Sara's warnings of the hazards of early marriage and motherhood.

While Sara is facing an onslaught of discouraging problems with her students, her living arrangements and the School Board, her brother arrives from Philadelphia to make an offer which tempts her to return East with him.