>> here's what's happening on "teen kids news." >> we'll show you how one girl's hard work and determination got her a college scholarship beyond her wildest dreams. >> we found out one way texting can be good for you. >> forget the movies. i'll headquarters of the cia. >> i'll tell you about a teen who's driving his way into the history books. >> i'll take you behind the scenes at an aquarium. hey, have any of you seen nemo? >> and we're just getting started, so stay tuned. >> welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm livia.

here's our top story for this week. >> college has become a lot more expensive over the years. in fact, many parents just can't come up with the money to cover all the expenses. but erika reports on how some teens can get a helping hand from a familiar but unexpected source. >> pamela is a hardworking student. she maintains good grades, spends time with her family, and keeps up on current events. she also donates time to work at a local food bank. >> i was part of the national honor society at my old high school, and we started volunteering at the food bank to give back to the community. i started doing that my sophomore year, and ever since, we've been doing that at least once a month. >> all the work that we do, we rely on pamela and volunteers tremendously. they do everything for us. they help sort the food. they help do our mailings. they help our thrift shop. they help with a wide variety of activities. >> so today you're helping us

with our campaign called "check-out hunger." >> focus and dedication seem to come naturally to pamela. so it probably didn't surprise anyone when she became the first member of her family to set her sights on college. >> being a first-generation student means being the first child -- daughter or son -- to attend a college in your family. and i am a first-generation student. and i'm proud to be one. >> but to go to college, pamela knew she would need financial aid. that's when she learned about a scholarship being offered by a surprising source -- kfc. >> kfc colonel's scholars scholarship -- it was created in honor of the founder of kfc, colonel harland sanders. he wanted to give back to the community and also to give back to help kids and help high-school students get a chance to improve their lives through education. >> pamela's strong values and academic excellence made her a perfect candidate. but just as she was completing her application, something

terrible happened. >> and i started crying because i filled out like every single part of the application, and i didn't save it. so when i closed my laptop, everything erased. >> wiping away the tears, she started over. her efforts paid off. early in the spring of her senior year, a woman called with exciting news. >> and she said that i've been awarded $20,000 from the kfc. i thought it was a ruse, like a joke, because it was april fool's day -- it was april 1st. i didn't believe her. but when she sent me the confirmation e-mail, i was so happy. >> we are very, very excited for pamela. it's a well-deserved scholarship. >> pamela has a formula for success. >> diligence, determination, and dedication. diligence -- i plan on studying 2-3 hours for every hour of class and basically completing every given assignment. determination -- i am determined to accomplish my goal of becoming a doctor. therefore, i will allow nothing to get in the way. and dedication -- i am dedicated. i will be dedicated to my

studies and use time management wisely, knowing when to have a social life and knowing when to do my homework assignments. >> the kfc colonel's scholars scholarship grants money to 75 qualifying students each year. you can find out more by visiting kfcscholars.org. there are many scholarships out there. your guidance counselor can help you find them. with hard work and a little luck, you may find the one that's right for you, just like pamela did. for "teen kids news," i'm erika. >> there's a lot more ahead, so stick with us. >> "teen kids news" will be right back. >> italy's prime minister steps down -- silvio berlusconi resigning in the face of italy's potential financial collapse. the 75-year-old was vowing to keep up his efforts to renew italy during the financial crisis.

taking berlusconi's place as prime minister is economist mario monti. president barack obama addresses the sexual abuse scandal at penn state during a news conference at the apec summit in hawaii. the president saying the incident sends an important message far beyond college sports -- that protecting children is more important than protecting institutions. >> when you think about how vulnerable kids are -- for the alleged facts of that case to have taken place and for folks not to immediately say, "nothing else matters except making sure those kids are protected" -- that's a problem. >> obama has called the case, which ended the career of longtime penn state head coach joe paterno, "heartbreaking." "occupy wall street" protesters clashing with police in cities across the country. in portland, oregon, police in riot gear working to clear the park, arresting at least two dozen protesters. hundreds of them defying the

mayor's order to get out. a similar situation in salt lake city -- more than a dozen cuffed there for refusing to leave. in philadelphia, police arresting a man for the rape of a woman. both were active "occupy" protesters. and in oakland, california, officers trying to evict demonstrators from a park in front of city hall after a man was shot and killed nearby. >> we have no intention of leaving, and if we do get evicted, we'll be back. >> for "teen kids news," i'm eric shawn, "fox news channel in the classroom." [ indistinct shouting ] >> according to movies and tv, secret agents lead lives of excitement nd glamour. but as lauren found out, the reality is a bit different. [ camera shutter clicks ] >> spy for the cia. >> i would like to be a spy for the cia. >> do like cool stuff, spy stuff. why not? >> something you think about when you see the movies. you're like, "ooh, i want to do

that!" >> if i didn't get shot at, yes. um, otherwise, i don't know. >> you'd fight crime. you just be, like, undercover. >> sounds fun and exciting. >> i want to help support, like, my country and be a spy. >> the central intelligence agency, known as the cia, is a government agency that gathers information about things going on all over the world. they call this information "intelligence." the agency analyzes the intelligence and then gives it to the president and other top officials so they can decide what to do. i got the opportunity to visit the cia headquarters in langley, virginia. there i met with marie harf, who gave me a tour of the building. >> we are the nation's first line of defense. we go where others cannot go. we do things that other agencies cannot do. we are tasked with collecting intelligence about issues that are of the most importance to

national security. >> what is intelligence in terms of the cia? >> that's a good question. there are a lot of different kinds of intelligence. there's human intelligence, which is what our national clandestine service does. >> clandestine means secret. >> they collect intelligence from human beings -- things that only other people can tell you. that's sort of what our "spies" do. there's also signals intelligence, open source intelligence. >> cia agents gather open source intelligence from newspapers and other public sources, as opposed to secret sources. this intelligence-gathering is not exactly like the fast-paced action you see in movies. most cia agents lead normal lives. >> for a majority of agency officers, life is not dangerous. it's really not. it's not james bond, evading people with your car and shooting at people. it's really not like that at all, but we do do very critical work in some of the most critical hot spots in the world. we do.

>> but there are a few similarities between real-life spies and the ones you see in movies. >> well, we do have a lot of people who work undercover, who, uh, you don't know they work for the agency. their friends don't know. often, family members don't know. we call them covert, so i guess that's sort of like james bond, although everybody knows who james bond is. >> to protect the identities of those covert agents, we were not allowed to tape any of the people who work here. that's why you are seeing a lot of video of marie and me walking around. if working at the cia sounds like something you're interested in, listen up. >> so, we have a whole variety of different careers and services and things that you can do to use your talents to help with our mission, not just being an undercover agent, although of course we have positions available for those people as well. >> and marie has a few suggestions for those of you who would like to get involved. >> if you're interested in a certain part of the world, learn about it. be curious. read books and newspapers and

watch the news, and try and learn a foreign language if you're interested in foreign language. >> but if you want a job in the spotlight, this might not be the place for you. the cia's mission is to gather information, not to make headlines. i'm lauren for "teen kids news." >> at 15, most of us are just counting down the days until we can get our driver's license. but grant reports on a teen who, at 15, became one of the youngest professional racecar drivers ever. >> growing up in stockdale, ohio, zach veach always dreamed of racing cars. >> well, i started driving go-karts -- which, they're, you know, the starting series if you want to be an open-wheel driver. and the first class you start off in runs about 50 miles an hour, and it's just little

yamaha engines. but i kept moving up in the go-karting series with the faster go-karts and faster go-karts. and i was gonna be racing in the atlantic championship series, which is an open-wheel car that went 180 miles per hour. but 10 days before my first race, the series was canceled due to the economy. >> but faster than you can say "pit stop," misfortune turned into good fortune. >> three days after my worst day in my life, my dad got a call from michael andretti asking if i'd be interested in driving for his team. >> andretti is one of the biggest names in racing. to be asked to join his team as an adult is an honor. to be just 15 at the time is incredible. >> it takes a lot of talent and hard work. you know, when you start in karting, you spend your time learning, developing your hand-eye coordination and the mental skills it takes to drive a racecar, because when you're out on the track, you're thinking about where you should

brake at. 'cause we have brake markers that are 100 yards, 200 yards, and you're thinking about when should you turn into the corner, and on top of that, you're thinking about where the other cars are on the track and what the car's doing so you can relate that information back to your crew and they can make the car go faster. because, really, everybody's got the same equipment, so at the end of the day, it comes down to whoever can drive the course the best and whoever's got the best car. >> so, what's zach's secret to success? >> you always have to be open to help, you know? a lot of teens make the mistake of thinking we know everything, and i've done it now and then, but with racing, when you have professionals like michael andretti watching over you, you have to listen to what they say, 'cause they've been here before and they've went the ladder systems, and if you listen to them, i mean, there's no limit to what you can do. >> and there's no limit to what good zach can do. he's also the national spokesperson for focusdriven.

it helps people hurt in car accidents caused by drivers using their cellphone. zach's also an honor student. clearly, this is one very "driven" teen. >> texting has gotten a pretty bad rap lately. we've heard plenty of reasons why not to text at the wheel or when crossing the street. but it's still the best way to reach a busy teen. new research says it's our preferred form of communication. teens average above 50 texts a day. >> how many text messages? >> probably about... >> a lot. [ cellphone rings ] >> and this ohio teen is no exception. >> my phone's never turned off. it's always on. >> but in one way, kailyn's cellphone use is different. she has diabetes -- the disease that requires her to check the level of sugar in her blood on a regular basis. her doctor sends her text messages to remind her to take a dose of medicine called a bolus. >> it's a lot easier to remember to do things if you're getting a

constant reminder. >> dr. jennifer dyer set up the texting program as an experiment. she had noticed a lot of her young diabetes patients were forgetting to take their bolus treatments. >> they really were not taking the majority of their boluses. >> once they started receiving customized reminders from their doctor, her patients were three times less likely to skip a bolus. each bolus contains insulin that keeps sugar from building up in the blood. >> whenever the children and the teens are taking their insulin correctly, they feel remarkably better, and they didn't even realize that they were feeling as bad as they were. >> and unlike a reminder from mom or dad, a message from the doctor seems to be welcome. >> the teens really enjoy the texting. i could tell because they always responded back to me. >> with diabetes on the rise among young people, this could be an idea that catches on. >> i'm leaving for college soon, so i'm under a lot of stress and i think little reminders just help. >> i'm adrian for

"teen kids news." >> this report is brought to you by paramount home entertainment. >> guys, this is gonna be great! >> it sure is. these teens were making their own zombie movie when they saw a train was coming. they quickly decided to include it in the scene. >> production value! positions! ready! start filming. be extra loud when the train passes by. here we go and...action! >> but they get a whole lot more action than they expected. >> guys, watch out! >> it's the smash hit movie, "super 8," created by superstar filmmakers steven spielberg and j.j. abrams. >> the title, "super 8," comes from the kind of camera people used to make their own movies in the 1970s.

back then, they used film, so you couldn't see your footage right away. >> with super 8, you don't quite know what you're gonna get. >> but you do know what you're going to get an abrams/spielberg movie -- lots of action and excitement. >> no one's gonna know we were there. >> oh, yes, they will. the friends accidentally left something behind. it shows that they were there and might have seen whatever it was that escaped when the train derailed. >> joe and some of his friends, they were grabbed by military personnel at the middle school. >> "super 8" is now out in a blu-ray/dvd combo pack. it includes cool behind-the-scenes extras. for example, the teens doing their own stunts, like jumping this fence. >> i thought for sure that our stunt doubles would be doing it, but we did it and it was so much fun. >> and you can watch the actual audition that won joel the lead role. he's a brand-new actor who gets to share the screen with elle fanning. >> how am i supposed to be a zombie? >> did you ever have miss mullen? >> for english? >> yeah, kind of like her, but

hungry for human flesh. >> there's also a special feature on how a real town was used as the location for incredible battle scenes. "super 8" certainly is super. it has it all -- friends, mystery, action, adventure, and lots of surprises. >> do not speak of this. >> i'm siena for "teen kids news." >> are you ready to get face-to-face with a shark? how about a stingray? nicole has some close encounters of the underwater kind. >> the maritime aquarium in norwalk, connecticut, offers visitors a unique experience -- a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour. cathy hagadorn is the aquarium's education manager. >> what happens behind the scenes is people really get to learn about what it takes to run an aquarium, what it takes to feed the animals, what their needs are, some of the veterinary care that goes on, and kind of really what makes the aquarium special. coming behind the scenes at the maritime aquarium is definitely

a treat. >> with thousands of fish and other animals to take care of, you can imagine that food is high up on the list of importance. so our first stop is at a room with what you'd expect at an aquarium -- lots of scales. >> we are in the fish kitchen, and at the fish kitchen, this is where we prepare all of the meals for the animals that live here at the maritime aquarium. >> fish to be used as food is thoroughly inspected. >> just like if you go to a restaurant and you order fish from the menu, the chef is gonna check the eyes to make sure they're clear. the chef is gonna smell it to make sure it smells healthy fishy but not really a bad fishy. >> i did good kind of fishy. i thought there was only one fishy. and guess who's coming to dinner. sharks! we're in the staff-only area above the open-ocean shark tank, where betsy is getting ready for feeding time. she's called an "aquarist." i'd call her "brave." so, how do you feed a shark? >> you feed a shark very carefully. all of the sharks here at the

maritime aquarium are pole-fed so that way we can record exactly who's eating and how much they're eating. now, these sand tiger sharks are actually more like scavengers than they are predators, so the fact that we are feeding them kind of a dead fish at the end of a stick is what they would kind of be doing in their natural environment. now, you can see some excited behavior -- there we go. very good. >> that was exciting. ooh! are they fighting each other there? >> not necessarily fighting each other, but just a little bit of competition. >> so what's next? >> we just got done feeding the sharks, so we're gonna feed some of the smaller fishes in there. would you like to give it a shot? >> sure! >> all right. >> to throw the fish, or not to throw the fish -- will i do it? we'll find out when "teen kids news" continues.

>> we're on a behind-the-scenes tour at the maritime aquarium in norwalk, connecticut. it's feeding time, and i'm about to reach into a bucket of very cold, very wet, and very dead fish. yum! so, what do i do? >> okay, you're just gonna take a handful. you're gonna go to the edge here and then you're just gonna throw it out and cascade it over the edge here so that they can all get the fish -- have an equal opportunity. >> all right. right now? >> yep, go for it. >> ugh! it's cold and gross! [ laughs ] that did not work as well as i planned it. like so many other things in life, practice makes perfect. >> look at them all coming. you're a pro at this now. very good. now over here you can see... >> each area of the aquarium re-creates life in the wild. so not only do the tanks need to

be kept at specific temperatures, even the amount of salt in the water needs to be individually controlled. i was also surprised to learn that something in these tanks is used to make one of my favorite foods. >> if you're reading the ingredients on ice cream or even beauty products, if you look for something called karagenin or agar -- that actually comes from seaweeds from right here on long island sound or the atlantic ocean. >> the aquarium isn't all about fish. while not part of the official behind-the-scenes tour, ellen let me meet the seals. it turns out each one has plenty of personality. you make friends with your fist -- what's called "targeting." >> what's going on, razz? >> good. all right, what you can do is, you want to just hold the fish right like that in between two fingers and hand it right to her. >> aww, good razz. >> last but definitely not least, i'm going to get up close and personal with some of the strangest creatures of the deep at the ray touch tank. the stingrays are hungry, too.

>> if you keep your hand nice and flat -- keep it in the water. here he comes. yep, if you keep your hand down nice and flat, they might know it's feeding time. >> hi. aww. >> keep your hand nice and flat. here we go -- this guy will give you a good pet. >> aww. now, before you decide to pet the next stingray you encounter, keep in mind that the stingers on these guys were carefully removed. >> the stingrays in the wild do have little stingers, or barbs, at the end of their tail, and that's kind of a defense mechanism. if a predator was gonna come up to them and try to eat them, they can use their barbs to kind of scare off their predators. but here at the aquarium, we can actually trim off those barbs so that way they're not stinging each other, and that way they're also not stinging the people who come to touch them. >> stingrays are actually related to sharks. unlike other fish, they have no bones, just cartilage like we have in our ears and noses. >> so scientists call that cartilaginous fishes. >> i learned a lot. i got to touch rays, work with seals, and help feed sharks.

i guess i can say "tanks" for the memories. at the maritime aquarium at norwalk, i'm nicole for "teen kids news." >> that's it for this week. thanks for joining us. >> we'll see you next week on "teen kids news." >> on behalf of everyone here at "teen kids news," we want to express our appreciation to all

of our military overseas.

♪ ♪ ♪ some days we forget to look around us ♪ ♪ some days we can't see the joy that surrounds us ♪ ♪ so caught up inside ourselves ♪ ♪ we take when we should give ♪ ♪ so for tonight...we pray for what we know can be ♪

♪ and on this day...we hope for what we still can't see ♪ ♪ it's up to us to be the change ♪ ♪ and even though we all can still do more ♪ ♪ there's so much to be thankful for ♪ ♪ look beyond ourselves... there's so much sorrow ♪ ♪ it's far too late to say i'll cry tomorrow ♪

♪ each of us must find our truth ♪ ♪ it's so long overdue ♪ so for tonight...we pray for what we know can be ♪ ♪ and every day...we hope for what we still can't see ♪ ♪ it's up to us to be the change ♪ ♪ and even though we all can still do more ♪ ♪ there's so much to be thankful for ♪ ♪ even with our differences

♪ there is a place we're all connected ♪ ♪ each of us can find each other's light... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ so for tonight...we pray for what we know can be ♪ ♪ and on this day...we hope for what we still can't see ♪

♪ it's up to us to be the change ♪ ♪ and even though this world needs so much more ♪ ♪ so much more... ♪ there's so much to be thankful for ♪ ♪ there's so much to be thankful for ♪ ♪ (applause)