"teen kids news" is next. and here's what we've got. a community turns to rock and roll, to help save school programs. a young girl's diary hidden since the holocaust is opening a new window on the past. meet a guy who can turn this -- into this. i'll introduce you to some u.s. marines who really band together. i'll take you to an exhibit that highlights fashion's most outstanding styles and the people that created them. all that and more, so stay-tuned for "teen kids news." >> hi, i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica.

americans have been going through some tough economic times. as felipe reports, these problems are affecting our schools. felipe? >> jessica, when a community suffers financially, schools share the pain. most public schools are funded by property taxes. and when taxpayers are worried about money, they often vote down the school's budget. that can leave administrators, parents and students scrambling. these students in wantagh, new york are eagerly showing up at school -- on a friday night. >> would you like to buy a ticket? >> yes, please. >> that's because a special fundraising concert is being thrown for their benefit. i think it's really cool. that's why i'm here, and i sold tickets to a bunch of my friends, and i got my sister and her friends to come. and it's really fun. teens scream for their favorite bands. but just weeks earlier they had nothing to cheer about. they were heading into a school year without extracurricular

activities. that's because taxpayers wouldn't support a new school budget. >> we got a budget increase that was a little bit high for the community to bear, and so our budget failed twice. when a budget isn't passed, schools have to operate on a contingency budget. that only covers the basics needed to educate students. >> well, extracurriculars are very important because it's a way for people to express their uniqueness. >> so with the threat of most activities shutting down parents and students went to work. >> we did a lot of car washes, we did carwashes like every sunday. there was a danceathon and a walkathon. at the walkathon we raised a lot of money. >> mary hall started wantagh s.o.s. -- save our students. the group helped raise the $650,000 needed to cover the cost of extracurricular activities. >> it's been difficult, and a failed budget is a tough thing, but the kids have also learned,

i think, a big lesson here, that things are not gonna be handed, handed to them all the time. >> students did get help from local musicians including john hampson, lead singer of nine days. you may have heard their hit song -- ♪ this is the story of a girl ♪ who cried a river and drowned the whole world ♪ ♪ looked so sad in photographs >> john also happens to be the wantagh high school english teacher. he knows high school isn't just about what goes on inside the classroom. >> i mean it's obvious, when you don't have those programs, where do they go? what are they going to do? they're going to have to find something else to do. and it's not even that they're bad kids they're gonna find trouble, it's not even that, it's just that they shouldn't be without these opportunities. >> school's also the time when students discover their love of athletics and the arts. that's why local band paging grace also pitched in. >> music meant a lot in high school, it was kind of where i found my calling, my place in the world, and to be able to

give back to the high school, to my local home town means a great deal. >> but with the stability of the economy still uncertain, the school budget could face the same challenge next year. >> i pray to god it passes next year, because i'll be honest, i can't do this again next year. >> another new york school district, mt. vernon had to turn to fundraising to keep its school sports alive. fortunately, it had the help of some generous people including actor denzel washington. he grew up in mt. vernon and donated $100,000. mwanzaa? >> thanks, felipe. first, some good news. an organization called the world economic forum says women's access to education is nearly equal to men's. but the forum also says women still lag far behind in business and political power. when it comes to "gender equality" norway tops the list of 130 countries. yemen, in the middle east, is at the bottom. the united states ranks 27th. >> 27th? president obama needs to add

"equality of gender" to his agenda. just ahead -- an amazing discovery. >> a teen's diary hidden during world war ii is uncovered. time walking and getting around in your house, you need a hoveround power chair. you'll be able to go to the mall... play with the grandkids... visit family and friends... and do all the things you always loved to do. tom kruse: i'm tom kruse, inventor of the hoveround. call us toll-free now to find out how you can get one. grandpa: at first i thought i couldn't afford a power chair, but thanks to my hoveround team, it didn't cost me a penny. tom kruse: 9 out of 10 people got their hoveround for little or no cost last year. that's why the most important thing you can do right now is call us now to see if hoveround is right for you. announcer: call now to find out how you can get a hoveround in your home right now. you'll receive a free information kit featuring a free video. you'll also get a certificate for a free in-home test drive. there's no cost and there's no obligation, so call today.

grandma: calling hoveround is the best thing you can do. announcer: call the number on your screen for your free consultation, information kit, video and test drive certificate. many of us have read "the diary of anne frank" in school. the book tells one girl's story of the holocaust, when 6 million jews were killed by the nazis during world war ii. but anne frank wasn't the only teen writing about what was happening then. siena tells us the story of another girl caught up in that terrible time. >> "february 15, 1943, monday -- the germans have retreated from the eastern front, which may signal the nearing of the end of the war. i'm only afraid that we, the jews, will be finished before." rutka laskier was 14 when she wrote that in her diary. she was all too aware of the danger she faced as a jewish teen living in poland during the second world war. >> she knew exactly what's going

on and she knew that the nazi's are determined to kill the jews. she felt that she wouldn't make it through the war and she wanted the diary to survive after her. >> zahava scherz is rutka's half-sister. she's telling the world about "rutka's notebook." it begins just as rutka's family was forced to move into one of poland's jewish ghettos. at first, the ghettos were simply uncomfortable, crowded places to live. but things began to get worse. "february 5, 1943. the rope around us is getting tighter and tighter. next month there should already be a ghetto, a real one, surrounded by walls. in the summer it will be unbearable. to sit in a gray locked cage, without being able to see fields and flowers." she is very intelligent, she's very pretty, and she has many,

many facets to her personality. >> zahava never met her sister. rutka died with most of her family at the concentration camp called auschwitz. only rutka's father survived the war. moving to israel, he remarried. that's where zahava was born. >> when i was 14 i came across a photo album with pictures from poland and there was a photo of two children and the girl looked like me a little bit. and i asked my father who is this girl. and he said, "they were my children they were killed in the holocaust in auschwitz." and that was a big shock for me. >> years later zahava was contacted by a friend of rutka's. she had found the notebook, hidden in the apartment where rutka once lived. she saw that everything was ruined, no furniture was left, but the diary was there.

and she took the diary and she kept it for herself for 62 years. and only two years ago she decided to make it public. the diary not only describes what it was like to live during such a terrible time in history, readers get to know a girl that even teens today can relate to. >> she was a very modern adolescent. she has relationship with boys. she's a very good student but she doesn't work too much for school so this is some kind of a girl that i could be friends with. >> zahava is hoping that like "the diary of anne frank," rutka's notebook will be a part of classroom discussions worldwide. >> not everyone can get paid to fold paper. but then again, not everyone can make these. this is langorigami.com, the website of dr. robert lang.

and believe it or not, almost all of the designs you're looking at were created from a single sheet of paper. a former physicist, dr. lang used his training to design computer programs that tell him how to fold. sadly, he doesn't offer any step-by-step instructions on how to create these things yourself. by the way, experts claim that no piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times. try it. if you're successful, let us know. i'm charlie for "teen kids news." >> don't look now, but your plants might be talking to each other. when some plants are attacked by insects, they send out a warning. it's a special odor. plants nearby pick up the warning and build up their defenses.

astronauts stay up at the international space station for months at a time. that puts them in danger of losing bone mass, one effect of floating around in zero gravity.

so nasa sent up a gift -- a specially equipped workout machine. they also have a treadmill and a bicycle up there. >> nicole continues her special series on a proud tradition of the u.s. marine corps. nicole? >> it's called "evening parade." and one of the highlights of the weekly event is a battle of the bands. every friday evening during the summer the public is invited onto the marines oldest military post. called "marine barracks washington," the post was established in 1801 to protect our nation's capitol. >> in this day and age, we are more famous for our ceremonial marching units and our musical units, the commandant's own and the president's own u.s. marine band. >> and during evening parade, both bands get to strut their stuff. officially called the "u.s. marine band", it was created by an act of congress in 1798. >> we played for john adams and

his wife and a small party of guests before john adams left office. but it was really thomas jefferson who took office right after that gave us the name "the president's own." >> the president needed his own musical unit to perform at different white house functions for foreign dignitaries and those who may attend his very nice estate. we've played at every inaugural since thomas jefferson and i believe that's 52 inaugurations over 210 years so we're very proud of that fact, as well. >> the marine band is composed of people from all over the country. and only the best of the best are allowed in to the president's unit. >> the band does not go through basic training. their sole duty is to provide musical support to the president. over the years, many great musicians were members of the marine band. the most prominent of them all was john phillips souza, known as the march king, and he was the one who wrote the stars and stripes forever.

♪ >> being sousa's band as we are we play a lot of his marches because mainly he wrote most of them for the president's own. ♪ >> i'll have more on the marine bands at the evening parade when we return. so stay-tuned. check out this chef, right? that's so gay. please don't say that. it's like if i thought this pepper shaker was stupid, and i said, "man, this pepper shaker is so 16-year-old boy with a cheesy mustache."

announcer: the magical thing about using energy wisely is that anyone can do it. use energy saving light bulbs, and use energy "smart" power strips. get together and make a difference. learn what you can do at... so we've already met the marine band known as the president's own. now meet the marine drum and bugle corps. they're known as the commandant's own. >> the commandant's own was established in 1934 to supplement the marine band during the ceremonies here at the barracks. and they became so good that the

commandant decided he'd have his own musical unit. if the president's gonna have marines, you know a musical unit of his own, the commandant better have his own as well. >> and we're also very different in that we play only drums and only bugles, they play every other kind of instrument out there, there is. but we are i'd say 10 times as loud as they are. >> all of the marines in the commandant's own are fully qualified to go to war. we are marines first, musicians second. >> they are infantry trained, and then they have to pass a musical audition before they enter the marine corps if they want a position in the unit. and then if they get a position in the unit, they come here to the barracks in washington, d.c. they are the best of the best of the marine musicians who try out for the recruiters. out on what's called the parade deck, there's a bit of friendly

rivalry between the commandant's own and the president's own. >> one tries to out flash the other as they play their songs across the parade deck. >> not all the music played at evening parade is instrumental. the marine band's rendition of "proud to be an american" brought the audience to their feet. >> it was really good, i'm excited because i'm actually enlisted in the marines to be in the band. so seeing this was a really good experience for me to get me ready for boot camp and, like, to see what i can become. >> the evening parade is open to the public. admission is free. to find out about getting tickets, check out our website. >> let's check in with natalie's "make the grade." >> i want to talk to you for a moment about college applications and community service. you've probably heard stories of teens who travel to exotic

places for their service projects. you know, helping to build houses in latin america or teaching english for a week in africa. you don't need to go to such extremes. in fact, many college admissions officers say they're not impressed by expensive service adventures. especially those that sound great but only take a minimal amount of time. what colleges are really looking for is a steady commitment. service from the heart! i'm natalie, and that's this week's advice on how to "make the grade." >> apparently when it comes to babysitting, grandma knows best. here's what new research finds -- children in day care or being watched by their own moms have twice as many injuries as kids in their grandmother's care. maybe grandma's more strict! but you're safer. >> it's time to play word! find out if you can find the true definition among the false ones. let's do some "d"'s -- debacle. is it --

a ball to introduce young women to society? a complete defeat? or -- an exchange of views? debacle is a complete defeat. what a debacle, she got only 2% of the vote! how about this -- dilate? does it mean -- to live to a very old age? to make wider or larger, expand? to add moisture to? dilate is to make wider or larger, expand. darkness makes the pupils in the center of your eyes dilate. how about "dire"? the colorist at a hair salon? an upholstery pattern? or terrible, awful? dire means terrible or awful. failure at word has dire implications for your performance in school!

just kidding. let's review. debacle -- a complete defeat. dilate -- to make wider or larger, expand. dire -- terrible or awful. and that's "word!" for this week on "teen kids news." do you like this top? that's so gay. really? yeah. it's totally gay. you know, you really shouldn't say that.

say what? well, say that something is "gay" when you mean it's bad. it's insulting. what if every time something was bad, everybody said, "ugh. that's so girl wearing a skirt as a top." oh. you are. ha ha. shut up. those are cute jeans, though. hey, mark. hey, mark. hey. where've you been? i lost my cat. aw. that's not right. yeah. so i made this cat magnet to try and get him back. cool. does it work? kinda. [meow] nice. yeah. but that's not my cat. i gotta keep working on it. see ya. see ya. see ya. announcer: anything's possible, keep thinking. get started on your own inventions or just play some games at... [distant sirens wail] when life's this hard, graduating can be even harder.

but you can help ativa and the students in your community make it through by visiting boostup.org. are your hands empty? take a closer look. scientists have learned that the typical hand is hosting about 150 different species of bacteria. and here's the "rub" -- for some kinds of bacteria, washing your hands helps them grow! but relax, it seems some of the bugs are actually good for you. >> fashion is a mirror of the times. you can actually learn a lot about past generations by the clothes they wore. sam takes us to a place where style meets history. >> from shoes -- to clothes and all types of accessories -- the museum at the fashion

institute of technology has it all. it's located in one of the fashion capitals of the world, new york city. and its collection of clothing is quite impressive. some pieces go back hundreds of years! so this dress is from about 1775. molly sorkin is curator for the museum. she took me through their exhibit called "arbiters of style: women at the forefront of fashion." so, what is an arbiter of style? >> well i think an arbiter of style really has to be pushing fashion and style forward whether it's somebody who's doing it through their innovations as a designer, their innovations as somebody involved in the technology of fashion whether it's textiles or we have

photographs by louise dahl-wolfe who of course was a very innovative fashion photographer. so it's somebody who's pushing fashion forward whether through their own look or how they're helping fashion evolve. back in the early 1900s this outfit was considered innovative! it was a style preferred by one of the "it" girls of that time. a version of this suit was worn by a ballroom dancer from the early 20 century named irene castle who was a major fashion icon and she had that kind of a same type of celebrity allure as somebody like jennifer lopez or madonna would today. fashion has come a long way through the centuries. women were expected to sacrifice comfort for style. so you can see where women were still wearing corsets, they're obviously not still wearing corsets now, where the rules of fashion have really changed so that instead of dressing for morning, afternoon and evening a

woman can wear one outfit for an entire day. you can see throughout the exhibit how things were changing. although certain outfits we'd be surprised to see people wearing today. >> so can you tell us about this piece right here? >> yes, those are red silk velvet evening pajamas that were owned by doris duke. they were designed by christian dior. doris duke of course was a socialite and philanthropist. the piece is from about 1955. >> can you explain what evening pajamas are? do you sleep in them? >> no, it's for entertaining at home basically so there are categories of clothing that we wouldn't really think about today as something that you would ever wear but evening pajamas are something you would wear at home you wouldn't wear these out and they would be for casual entertaining. >> while we're quite grateful that some of these fashions stayed in the past, there are some that are as cool today as

they were back then. >> if you love fashion as much as i do, you must check out the museum at fit. they have over 50,000 garments and accessories on rotation dating back to the 18th century. for "teen kids news," i'm sam. >> that's all for us this week, thanks for tuning in. >> we'll see you next time, on "teen kids news."

my name's brandon. in 9 years, i'll be an alcoholic. all: hi, brandon. i'll start drinking with the older kids, and whatever they do... i'll do. announcer: kids who drink before age 15 are 5 times more likely to have alcohol problems when they're adults. so start talking before they start drinking. i know it'll start with alcohol. i'm just not sure how it's gonna end.