Thursday’s teen news – Local(∆) and national

Hartford school boasts 0% dropout rate – In a city with one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, Principal Steve Perry’s school has sent every graduate to a 4-year college.  Perry agrees thatblack children can frequently be the victims of stereotypes. It’s the reason he pushed so hard to create an environment where everyone was held to the same expectations.”In our school, it’s college prep for everybody; it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white. They can see that it’s OK for them to be smart and black,” says Perry. (CNN) photo by Christopher Martin

Teen pregnancy at epidemic levels in foster care – Without strong relationships to parents or other adults, nearly half of girls who had spent time in the foster-care system had been pregnant at least once by the time they were 19 years old.”For some foster youth,” says University of Chicago researcher Amy Dworsky, “having a child is a way to create a family that they don’t have, or to fill an emotional void.” (Time) photo by wjzo.com

MLB teams DNA test Dominican teen – 16-year-old top-prospect Miguel Sano provided samples of his blood, urine and feces to Major League Baseball investigators so they could assess his DNA and any possible use of performance-enhancing drugs. It is illegal for companies in the US to request a DNA sample from employees. (NY Times) photo by Ross Finkel

(∆) Flu forces closure of Duke teen program – The second of two summer sessions of Duke’s Talent Identification Program was canceled Wednesday after more than 25 of the 260 participants tested positive for the flu or exhibited flu symptoms, according to campus officials. (News & Observer)

Anti-violence group reaching-out to teen girls – With female participation in gangs and violence on the rise, CeaseFire has begun to hire female officers to counsel teens and mediate conflicts. “If they get the feeling no one cares about them, they stop caring about themselves,” Marisol Colon said of the teens she mentors. “The girls are the worst ones.” (Chicago Tribune)

Teen’s Iphone app collects prayer – 17-year-old Allen Wright developed “A Note to God,” an Iphone app which allows users to send prayers into cyberspace and to read the prayers of others. Wright, a junior in California and regular churchgoer, said he came up with the idea while lying in bed, feeling lonesome. “If you want to send a message, and you don’t have anybody to talk to, you could send a little prayer,” he said. (News & Observer)

Teen sets wheelie world record – Sophomore Jake Drummond of Oshkosh set a Guinness World Record for riding a wheelie for 100 meters in 15.2 seconds. “We were doing a school project and we were doing a news report,” Drummond said. “We looked through the Guinness book and some guy in Barbados did it and I thought I would try it for fun. I beat it by a lot.” (The Northwestern)

10 most common myths about college – “The sticker price is the price you pay.” “If you did well in high school, you’ll do well in college.” Etc. (US News)

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

Teens losing sleep to electronics – “Before technology, we went to sleep when the sun went down,” says Dr. Myrza Perez,a specialist in sleep disorders. “Now with all these distractions, teenagers alone in their rooms stay up to extremely late hours on their cell phones and computers. Their parents have no idea.” Sleep deprivation leads to daytime problems such as headaches, lack of concentration and hyperactive behavior often misconstrued as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (Detroit Free Press) photo by Lezlie Sterling

Profile of YouTube student stars – Seventh graders at Ron Clark Academy became an overnight sensation during the presidential election when their YouTube performance of “You Can Vote However You Like” catapulted them to online stardom. Successful charter school, where fifth graders are taught 8th grade curriculum, is financed in part by Oprah and Delta. (CNN) photo by Edward Roda

(∆) Home/private schoolers start football team – The Titans serve all counties in the Piedmont area of NC. (Fuquay-Varina Independent)

Study: Girls prefer BFF, boys favor groups – A new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of children offers at least one explanation for some common tween social behaviors: girls are hardwired to care about one-on-one relationships with their BFFs (best friends forever), while the brains of boys are more attuned to group dynamics and competition with other boys. (Time) photo by wjzo.com

Study: The Myth of the Math Gender Gap – According to new data, the researchers say, that gender gap has become a myth — a finding they hope will help shift the very real gender gap in math, science and technology professions, which are currently dominated by men. (Time) photo by Tim Pannell

Webter’s Dictionary adds new words – Frenemy, vlog, webisode, green-collar, reggaeton, etc.  (AP)

Friday News

Senior Prank or Criminal Action? – Seven East Wake High seniors barred from commencement after vandalizing 28 buses and pouring baby oil on the hallway floor. (WRAL)

Raleigh Charter High – Small charter school is in 5th place for 1-A Wachovia Cup despite no athletic facilities. (News & Observer)

Allegations of Transcript Change, Fraudulent SAT Scores – Chicago newspapers are reporting that a grade on NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose’s high school transcript was altered from a D to a C and that there may be some irregularities concerning his SAT exam.  (Chicago Tribune)