1) Trevor is an 11-year-old boy who lives with his mother, Arlenne, as his parents are divorced. His social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet, assigns the class a project to come up with an idea that could change the world for good. 2) Trevor comes up with the idea of "paying it forward" by doing good deeds for others and asking them to do good deeds for three more people without expecting anything in return. 3) Trevor's idea spreads exponentially as people throughout his community participate, including helping a man named Jerry get a job and stay off drugs. A reporter named Chris is intrigued by the movement and drives to uncover where it began.