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

What age does a person become adult? – Supreme Court is deciding whether children can be sentenced to life in prison without parole in cases other than murder. (NYT)

 

 

(∆) Lawsuit allow h.s. football team to play - Judge overturned NCHSAA decision that Fayetteville high school must forfeit all their games for using an illegal player, thus allowing them to play in the state playoffs.”This process has opened a whole can of worms,” Davenport said. “I feel bad for the kids because they played their hearts out. At the same time, I know it’s going to be a mess for the high school association. But now it’s too far gone. If they come in Monday and make another decision, it’s going to complicate things even more.” (Fayetteville Observer)

(∆) Queen of women’s hoops – Profile of 92-year-old Vivian Sansom who started the women’s basketball program at NCCU in 1940.   (News & Observer)

 

 

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

KC girl wins “Best Teen Chef” title – A dyslexic teen who can barely read, Sammy Jo Claussen was constantly in trouble at school and at home.  She sought refuge in the kitchen with her grandmother and recently won a $90,000 college scholarship by outcooking teen chefs from all over the country. (KC Star)

Teacher arrested in cash-for-grades scheme - Jersey social studies teacher arrested for giving extra credit for money that she said was for charity but would then keep herself.  Collected $1,400 last year. (CBS 3)

Column: Don’t cancel teen dances – Will Boston cancel teen dances after shooting  erupted at a YMCA dance? Will the actions of a few ruin what has been enjoyable for many?  (Boston Globe)

In recession, some schools cut sports – Schools across the nation face choices between funding sports versus other extracurricular activities.  Some schools are holding fundraisers or charging athletes fees to play.  Critics contend schools are making these cuts to force taxpayers to vote for more school taxes. (USA Today)

5 best majors for recession – According to Chronicle of Higher Ed: service science, health informatics, computational science, sustainability, and public health. (US News)

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

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

(∆) Minimum wage rises to $7.25 – Higher wages and more consumer spending but will small businesses be forced to lay-off workers to pay higher wages? 78,000 workers earn minimum wage in NC. (News & Observer) photo by Ted Richardson

New dorms for 1st-gen college students – First-generation college students are often overwhelmed, only 11% graduate in six years.  In response, the University of Cincinnati is experimenting with a new dorm just for first-gen students. In addition to strict rules, there are in-house tutoring and study sessions — sometimes mandatory, depending on a student’s grades. There is advising, counseling and mentoring by faculty members, administrators and peers. The program coordinator, Judith Mause, teaches a yearlong course for credit on the first year of college; it focuses on topics like study skills and time management. (NY Times) photo by Tom Uhlman

Nordstrom launches Twilight clothing line - Just in time for New Moon. (Charlotte Examiner)

Are “black covers” segregated in book stores? – YA novel about black girl uses photo of white girl on cover because publishers claim that “black covers don’t sell.” (Jezebel)

Book: Lebron struggled with fame in H.S. – In his autobiography ‘Shooting Stars,’ Leborn says he became arrogant and let celebrity get to his head and that he also smoked marijuana his junior year. (Sports Illustrated)

Amputee works to help others - Jordan Thomas lost both of his legs in a boating accident, then started a foundation that raises money to purchase top-quality prosthetics for other young people. “I’d really like to move into advocacy, giving a voice to the amputee community and just helping as many people as possible,” he said. “Just making a difference and letting these kids live normal and happy, productive lives.” (CNN) photo by Amy Chillag

(∆) Apex H.S. partners with China school -There are some major difference between Apex High and Jiangsu Yancheng Middle. The Chinese school has 12,000 students who live on the sprawling campus. There are also 800 teachers who hold classes six days a week with as many as 60 students in a classroom. (Apex Herald)

(∆) Advice: Paying for college in bad economy – A record number of students are applying for financial aid this year in NC but there is also more tuition money available.  According to this story, the first steps are to apply for FASFA and Pell grants, but there is more information available at the College Foundation of North Carolina website. (MyNC)

Dallas school’s tests investigated – 400 eight graders were forced to retake a standardized test after authorities noticed a significant number of erasures on the original test.  Scores plummeted on the retake, officials do not believe students were involved. (Dallas News)

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

(∆) Greensboro program pays teens $1 a day not to get pregnant – Girls in the College Bound Sisters program attend 90-minute meetings every week where they receive lessons on abstinence and contraception use.  For every week they remain in school and not pregnant, $7 is deposited into a fund which they collect when they enroll in college.  According to the director, only six girls out of the 125 girls who have enrolled in the program since 1997 have dropped out or become pregnant. (Fox News)

(∆) ECHHS cheerleading team wins BET contest – Link to ‘sassy but classy’ performance on BET.

(∆) NC sex ed classes to be more comprehensive – The House narrowly passed a bill 60-55 that will allow for more information about contraceptives and STDs but the overall curriculum will remain abstinence based.  NC ranks 9th in the nation in teenage pregnancy rates. (N&O)

Supreme Court rules strip search violated teen’s rights – In a 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled school officials violated a 13-year-old girl’s 4th Amendment rights by strip searching her for prescription-strength ibuprofen.  However, the Court did state that school officials had a right to search her outer garments and backpack.  Judge Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter and said this decision alerts students as to where they can safely hide drugs. (NYT)

Homeless teen hopes for Harvard – Kenneth Chancey of Los Angeles is top of his class, student body president, starting running back on the football team and homeless.

Ga. home schoolers form football league – Not allowed to play on local high school teams, home schoolers formed successful 8 team Glory for Christ Football League. (NYT) photo by Mike Tierney

Chicago public schools to test teens for STDs – 11th and 12th grades will be voluntarily tested and treated in the health centers at six high schools.  Cook County leads the nation in reported cases of gonorrhea and is second in cases of chlamydia.

N.Y. teen surfer making waves – 17-year-old Belaram Stack is competing in national h.s. championships this weekend and will turn professional this summer.“I’ve had countless times where people have said: ‘You’re from New York? Is there even an ocean there?’ ”said Stack. (NY Times) photo by Mike Nelson

Mother charged with changing daughter’s grades – A Pa. high school secretary raised her daughter’s grades (and lowered others) to improve her class ranking. (Modesto Bee)

Interview with Michael Jackson by Regina Jones – Vibe Magazine