Good Friday celebration in Durham

(CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE – photos by wjzo.com)Good Friday reenactment in Durham

3/10/2010 Local Teen News

1,000 Clayton teens celebrate sexual purity - Clayton teens gather at “Silver Ring Thing” abstinence event, where teens are taught that sex is dangerous and waiting is better.  The silver rings represent a vow to not have sex until marriage. “God created us to be with a certain woman,” said Tyler Franks, 18, of Angier. “You’re not supposed to have sex until you’re with that woman.” (N&O)

Teen plans ’2010 Clayton Teen Fest’ – For her senior project, Clayton High School student Jordan Wing has spent over 200 hours planning this March 20 ‘state fair-type’ event that will bring students to God in a ‘non-threatening, fun environment.’When Wing went to Winterfest in Virginia with members of her church, . the 700 that accepted the Christian faith gave her what she calls the “holy shivers.”“It really influenced me a lot,” she said. “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” (FV Independent)

East Garner school initiates Haiti project - An English as a Second Language class spent a month researching Haiti and painting chairs to raise money for Red Cross.  Juan Aguilar wrote, “If I help Haiti, I can make a very big difference in someone’s life. That is what the power of one is all about. You don’t need physical power; your mind is your power.” (Garner Citizen)

NC State students plan for Alternative Spring Break – Instead of hitting the beaches, a number of NC State students are preparing for public-service trips throughout the world, although not to Haiti. Last year Nadeem Elborno went to New Mexico to work with the Navajo community. ”I can honestly say when I went on my trip last year, it changed my life,” Elborno said. “It teaches you to see the world through the eyes of the people you’re serving.” (MyNC.com)

Photos of Wake County’s 2010 Pieces of Gold by photographer Travis Long – (N&O)

1/22/10 Teen News – National

At-large teen bandit becomes legend - Profile 0f 18-year-old Colton Harris-Moore who has been on the run from fugitives for over 20 months after escaping from his halfway house in an airplane. Since then, the now-18-year-old fugitive has eluded police in Washington, Idaho and Canada, repeatedly vanishing into the woods. Police suspect he’s stolen at least two planes, two boats and several cars, plus broken into more than 50 homes. Yet the only thing growing faster than Harris-Moore’s alleged rap sheet is his legend. (NPR)

Review of Lady Gaga concert in NYC -And Lady Gaga was great. Even without all the bells and whistles — video screens, smoke machines, costumes and dancers — she would have captivated the crowd. Her voice was strong, even while dancing; she didn’t lip sync; and her banter between numbers was alternately funny and touching. (Jezebel)

Schools reduce languages, except Chinese – Thousands of public schools are dropping foreign language classes, except for a huge increase in the number of Chinese classes taught in some cases by teachers provided free from China.The number of students taking the Advanced Placement test in Chinese, introduced in 2007, has grown so fast that it is likely to pass German this year as the third most-tested A.P. language, after Spanish and French, said Trevor Packer, a vice president at the College Board. (NYT)

Teacher’s Bible divides Ohio town – Is an 8th grade teacher who refused to remove a Bible from his desk a hero who is being unfairly punished for Christian beliefs or a zealot who pushed his beliefs onto students? “Freshwater’s supporters want to make this into a new and reverse version of the Scopes trial,” said David Millstone, the lawyer for the Mount Vernon Board of Education, referring to the Tennessee teacher tried in 1925 for teaching evolution. “We see this as a basic issue about students having a constitutional right to be free from religious indoctrination in the public schools.”(NYT)

Accident or senior prank? – During the senior class photo, students wearing t-shirts with the C and the L left A and S and S on their own.“I heard C and L ran off. That’s not ass’s fault. That’s C and L’s fault, said senior Austin Knight. “It was funny and they shouldn’t have been punished.” (KHOU)

Durham ‘Black Nativity’ at Hillside High Theater

(click images to enlarge – photos by wjzo.com, see www.blacknativitydurham.com for more info)

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

Teen girls behind celebrity robberies – Studied celebrities on tv and in the magazines, figured out what they wanted, then went to celebrities’ (Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson, etc) homes and robbed them. “It would be fun to do capers. It was all about fun,”a friend said. (LA Times)

Recession causes more runaways – Economic troubles are causing more tension in the home, leading to 1.6 million children leaving the home or being kicked out last year.  This story profiles a group of runaways in ORegon who teach younger runaways how to avoid the police and predators.“We always first try to send them home,” said Clinton, who himself ran away from home at 12. “But a lot of times they won’t go, because things are really bad there. We basically become their new family.” (NY Times)

Girl found in NYC reports amnesia – 18-year-old girl from Washington does not know how she ended-up in NYC although she had a difficult relationship with her father and emptied her bank account before she left.  The father does report the teen has a history of blacking-out. (LA Times)

Religious signs move into the stands – After 9/11, cheerleaders at a Georgia high school used religious signs to cheer and encourage the team until a parent complained and a court prohibited the religious expression on the field.  Now, parents in the stands are holding more religious signs than before.“I’m a Christian, and I think it’s really neat to be part of a program that wasn’t afraid to express its beliefs,” Kaitlynn said. “We are representatives of the school, but we’re also individuals, and we have the right to believe whatever religion we want.” (NY Times)