4/28/10 Local Teen News

 Preview of CHHS ‘The Wiz” – 100 students are participating in Chapel Hill High School’s spring musical “The Wiz,” which will be be adapted from the musical and  not the movie. “They run every aspect of the show, for the most part,” Drago said. “This is educational theater. This is the best possible learning experience the students can have, actually doing the show themselves.” (Chapel Hill News)

 College select summer reading for frosh – UNC has selected Picking Cotton, Duke will be reading Everything Matters, Peace College will read The Blue Sweater and both NC State and Meredith will read Half The Sky by Nicholas Krisof and Sheryl WuDunn.  Half the Sky explores issues faced by women around the world, and it offers ways readers can help make a difference. The book’s title refers to a Chinese saying, “Women hold up half the sky.” “This is one of the hardest books I’ve had to read,” said Roger Callanan, an assistant undergraduate dean at NCSU. “This is not pleasurable. But it’s important. We’re talking about real brutality and grotesque abuse. But if you persist, at the end it is hopeful, and it is challenging. Now that you know, what are you going to do?” (N&O)

 Profile of student activist – Dismayed by a single piece of litter at age 6, Morehead scholar Adam Meyer has devoted himself to environmental education and activism, including the opening of HOPE Gardens, a community garden north of UNC that will offer transitional employment to homeless people.  “I always felt a connection to the environment and being outdoors,” he said. “My parents used to have to pull me inside, kicking and screaming.” (Daily Tar Heel)

 Durham Riverside no-hits Northern – Sophomore Dusty Tatum tossed a no-hitter as Riverside beat Northern 2-0 to remain undefeated in the Pac-6.  “He’s been getting better as the season has gone on,” Blowe said of Tatum’s performance. “He’s got great stuff. He’s got four pitches, and he had command of all four of them tonight. He did a great job with both sides of the plate and working from ahead for the most part.” (Herald-Sun)

H.S. Baseball: Riverside v. Pinecrest

(CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE – photos by wjzo.com)

Riverside High School baseball v. Pinecrest High School

Playoffs: Riverside v. Terry Sanford

To see more photos of the NCHSAA 4-A Eastern Regional Finals between Riverside and Terry Sanford, please see this photo gallery at highschoolot.com.  (photos by wjzo.com)

Monday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

St. Louis closes teen club after 2 nights – Club 12/12 filled to capacity each night and everyone had a good time on the inside. But on the outside, teens turned away created mayhem at surrounding businesses.  Owners claim racism in that police said they are unwilling to help control crowds as they do at white teen events.  (St. Louis Today)

Texas h.s. athletes earn academic credit – Texas high school athletes are now allowed to earn up to four credits to graduation by taking sports classes where they lift weights or watch game film.  Supporters argue such classes keep kids in school and that students can earn equal credit for marching band or arts.  Opponents argue students shouldn’t receive academic credit just for playing a sport.  (Wall Street Journal)

1/3 of Chicago teachers felt pressure to change grade – Here are reasons why teachers were asked to change grades: “to avoid parental conflict. The parent is a CPS teacher.” ”graduating senior who needed to pass and parent pressure.” ”principal wanted graduation rate to increase so she would not be reprimanded. ”not enough parental contact before assigning a failing grade. ”to reduce the total number of students that were being referred for summer school.” ”an athlete needed a better grade point average.” ”special needs student who had 80+ absences and the case manager insisted that the student should not fail.” ”our principal has told us that no one who is in bilingual or special ed should receive lower than a C.” (Chicago Sun Times)

New approach to teaching literature - Some teachers are now allowing individual students to pick their books rather than having the entire class to read the same book.  Some teachers believe the one book approach does not engage the students and individual books will foster a love of reading. Is it more important to teach a particular book or a love of reading? (NY Times)

(∆) Chapel Hill High player upset over Miller situation – Former Chapel High School baseball player Zachary Pollock is upset that former coach David Miller’s contract wasn’t renewed.  According to Pollock, Miller was an expert fundraiser who rebuilt the school field, a great teacher and even better coach who led CHHS to three PAC-6 championships. So why didn’t the school rehire him? (Chapel Hill News)

(∆) Peer to peer sex ed classes find success – School systems in NC are asking Thomasville to help establish similar peer to peer sex ed classes in their districts. When it comes to issues like abstinence, pregnancy, prevention and STDs, Thomasville High School senior Travis Mouzon says students seem to listen better when it’s coming from someone their own age. (News 14)

Iowa town seeks to recover from coaches death – NPR profile on how Parkersburg is dealing with death of legendary football coach as they prepare for the first game of the year.  (NPR) AP photo

Wednesday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

(∆) Raleigh native gets Broadway lead – John Arthur Greene has taken over the role of Riff, the leader of the Jets gang in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of “West Side Story.” “I grew up doing North Carolina Theatre,” he said. “I did every single one of their shows. They gave me a place to really develop this art and figure out how characters are formed, how to sing and dance, and how to put your heart and soul into a performance.” (News & Observer)

6 Alternative fuels cars built by teens – Five kids from West Philly’s high school auto shop class, ex-gang members and high school dropouts built this soybean-powered race car. The car gets 50+ mpg and goes from 0 to 60 in just 4 seconds. (Matter Network)

Texas public schools required to teach Bible – “The purpose of a course like this isn’t even really to get kids to believe it, per se, it is just to appreciate the profound impact that it has had on our history and on our government.” (KLTV.com)

Smashing Pumpkins hires teen drummer – After original drummer quit, Pumpkins screened 1,000 drummers in open auditions before choosing 19-year-old Mike Byrne. “I’m super excited to be playing with the band. Dream come true, man.”

Teens protest proposed tanning ban – Suffolk County in NY wants to ban teens under 18 from tanning salons. John Overstreet, the executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, said it “defied common sense” that lawmakers would bar teens from tanning indoors while posing no restrictions on them at the county’s beaches. (Newsday)

Teen sees people’s auras – Part of a 20/20 series on children with psychic powers. Heather compares looking inside bodies to using an X-ray or microscope. Her vision, she says, changes “from one power to the next, and it just goes deeper and deeper, and you can see that. Sometimes, you don’t want to know that about everybody, so you don’t want to look and you’re just like, you’re afraid of what you’ll find.” (ABC)

The dangers of pitching as a youth – Dr. James Andrews deems the number of Tommy John surgeries needed for teen pitchers as an “epidemic.” In-depth article by the NY Times about how pitching can destroy arms. (NY Times)

Buried teen saved on NC beach – A 16-year-old from New Jersey was buried neck-deep while sitting cross-legged in wet sand at Bald Head Island when the tide came in over his head. A bystander gave him a snorkel to breath through until he was dug out.  (Philly.com)