"teen kids news" is about to begin. here's what's happening. why this little card is one of the things soldiers want the most? i'll report on a class where the lessons are edible! i'll try to put the rock in the house, coming up. if working in news sounds like a career for you, you may

want to consider majoring in journalism. i'll tell you more, in "college and you." and it all starts right now on "teen kids news." >> welcome to "teen kids news," i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. ever since our country was attacked on 9/11, the u.s. has been engaged in fighting in the middle east. being so far from home can be hard on our troops. but, there is one simple thing that can help. annie's got the story. e.t. did it, you do it, but for many soldiers stationed abroad, phoning home isn't so easy. >> that's why these teens mobilized to help soldiers stay in touch with their families back home. >> hearts to home is a fund

raiser run through the bronxville youth council that raises money to send calling cards to the troops in iraq stationed at camp bucca. >> a year ago, around valentines day, we decided that we wanted to do something to help the troops out and this just seemed like the right thing to do. >> in just a matter of months, hearts to home raised more than $50,000 to buy phone cards! >> and i'd now like to invite up to the stage three individuals that have impacted the lives of thousands of service members in iraq, afghanistan, and around the world. >> for their effort, the three young founders of hearts to home were honored by the uso >> the united service organization was founded back in 1941 at the request of president franklin roosevelt ever since world war ii, the uso has traveled the world, helping to boost troop morale. some of america's biggest stars have entertained troops in far away places like korea, vietnam, and afghanistan.

and the sole purpose of this organization is to provide support to our military and their families both at home and abroad. that's why the uso is so supportive of hearts to home. >> we will be sending over, throughout the course of the year, thousands of phone cards to our troops serving in iraq and afghanistan to keep their families connected. >> clare gorman knows first hand how it feels to have a family member stationed abroad. >> my nephew patrick was enlisted right after college into the air force. and a few months later he was deployed to iraq. to a place called camp bucca. >> patrick became the inspiration for the teens to take action. >> they came to me after they decided that they wanted to do something special at the bronxville youth council and i had talked to patrick and said, "what do you need most?" and he said phone cards, so they jumped right on it. >> major vincent heintz was stationed in the sunni triangle in iraq. >> phone cards were critical, not just to me, but to the soldiers, our sailors and airmen that we served with.

that's the only way that the guys and the women we worked with could call home and just be in touch and stay involved with their families. >> anytime you can connect a deployed soldier with his family, or her family back home you're not -- you're not just helping the soldier in their morale, you're actually helping the family as well. we don't just deploy a soldier nowadays, we deploy the whole family. >> to end the ceremony on the right note, the uso's liberty bells performed some of the patriotic numbers they sing for troops around the world. ♪ america, america god the founders of hearts to home say there are many ways you can support our fighting men and women. >> get the community behind you and you can do whatever you want. i mean, it doesn't have to be calling cards, it can be sending supplies, it can be sending blankets, anything that can help them would be just perfect. >> teens aren't the only ones getting involved.

celebrities like jessica simpson, ben affleck and ludacris have all volunteered with the uso. to find out more about the uso or hearts to home visit our website. for "teen kids news," i'm annie. ♪ tyler tells us about some impossibly light feel, intensely rich color. together at last. revlon colorburst lipstick. it's lo at first swipe.

tyler tells us about some students who are learning about nutrition in a rather unusual way. fast food, candy, soda. we're surrounded by things that aren't good for us. you might say that planted the idea for the school program named learn it, grow it, eat it. >> we're not trying to change everything about your diet, but we're just trying to let you be aware of what you're eating. >> learn it, grow it, eat it is

a youth-based program where we teach teenagers about healthy eating. we teach them to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. >> i eat like a lot of fresh fruits more now, i like the organic stuff, too. >> the program also offers a unique hands on experience. >> we also teach them where there food comes from and we do that in a very interesting way. we take them to local community gardens where they actually get to grow their own fruits and vegetables. >> did i mention these gardens are in a city? not a place you usually think of growing food. >> i didn't actually know how to plant and stuff, but then it became a learning experience and it's something that i actually want to take up now as, like, a minor maybe in school. >> the teens plant tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, and herbs throughout the year. then they harvest and sell their food along with produce from other local farmers at markets during the summer. >> my favorite part is actually the farmers markets and it's

just really important to our community to be able to have fresh fruits and vegetables. >> while they shop, members of the community are treated to some healthy snacks made with veggies from the students' garden. the teens aren't just selling food. they're trying to sell their community on a healthy lifestyle. >> in the summer time i hire 15 of our most entsihusiastic energetic students and they become our community educators. they bring little kids into the community gardens and teach them about plants and they go out and do education tables in the community to teach people how to read labels. >> what we're going to be doing is showing like how to read labels. a lot of people think that the salt, they're all the same, which they're not. we have this one here which is actually cheaper but it has almost twice the sodium as the one over here. >> sodium is a food preservative. however, mt. sinai's dr. steever has this warning. >> if you have too much sodium in your diet as a young person and as a teenager, it probably doesn't make a huge immediate

impact on your life, but as you get older you can develop high blood pressure from all that extra salt in your diet and that can put a strain on your heart or brain and then you're at risk for things like a heart attack or stroke. >> we want to be healthy. we don't want to be constantly going to the hospital for heart problems, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure. >> the students say they've gotten lots of positive feedback from the community. >> the garden i'm working on is called wishing well garden. just a year ago it was full of rats and everything. and people are walking by now. it's very pretty, it has a lot of flowers and vegetables. and they're like, "oh, my god, you guys did a great job and everything." so, it's really fulfilling. >> that's certainly something to be proud of! the teens say growing your own food is really pretty easy, even for city kids. and a lot of fun. for more info on learn it, grow it, eat it, visit our website.

he's called the "father of our country." but he had no children of his own. >> martha washington had had kids from another marriage. so, when george and martha married and george agreed to adopt martha's kids, and you know george became very fond of these two kids. >> so, washington helped to raise his step-children, instead. and his step-grandchildren. but they didn't live in the white house, it wasn't built yet! i'm lily for "teen kids news." it's called a pitcher plant. and if you ever get near one, don't get too close. pitcher plants eat meat. a new kind of pitcher plant was recently found in the philippines. it's big enough to swallow rats. and it does. new revlon colorburst lipstick. impossibly light feel, intensely rich color. together at last. revlon colorburst lipstick. it's lo at first swipe.

curling isn't just something you do to your hair. it's also a sport. it requires strength, dexterity, and a whole lot of teamwork. hannah has the story. for most kids, sweeping is a chore. these guys do it for fun. this is the weekly teen practice at the ardsley curling club. they're learning to play a game that started in scotland more than 500 years ago. how do you curl? >> well, it's a lot like shuffleboard on ice. >> you have to throw the stones from one side of the ice to the center of the bulls eye. and whoever has the most in the center wins. >> by the way, those circles they aim for are called the house. curlers play on teams of four people. players take turns sliding the stones, while their teammates sweep the ice just in front of the rock. so how do these brooms work?

>> well right there, there's some cloth on it. you rub it back and forth on the ice, and it will melt the ice and make the rock go faster. >> as you can imagine, getting a 42-pound granite rock to go exactly where you want takes years of practice. but it's not enough to be accurate. you've got to be clever. what's the hardest part of curling? >> i think it's the strategy, because there's so many different things you can do at a certain time. >> for instance, curlers can try and knock the other team's stones away from the house. and sometimes, they will purposely throw stones that stop short, to block their opponent's future shots. >> sometimes it gets really tough to know what the right shot is. >> in fact, some people call it chess on ice. which do you prefer, throwing the rock or sweeping? >> i prefer throwing, usually. i like gliding down the ice. it's kind of fun. >> these guys make it look easy. let's see how i do. >> first step is you push out a little bit.

then you lift your hips, bring the stone back, then out. >> okay, and then i put my hips up. and then i go like that. yeah? >> watch out! >> so who's that guy at the end yelling at everyone? >> that's the skip. >> what is he telling them? >> he's telling them to sweep the rock as it comes down. he'll say "hurry," "hard," or "yes." those are just different ways to say, "keep sweeping." >> can i try it? >> if you want to. >> take this one out. go, go! yes! go! sweep, sweep! sweep, sweep sweep! that was awesome. what's your favorite part of curling? >> well, i like to be here with my friends. and i like the sport. i like the ice, i like the cold. and i don't know, it just seems fun to me.

you can hang out with people from different ages, and just have a good time. >> my friends and i are having a lot of fun. >> i'd have to say the hardest part of curling would be keeping your balance on the ice. sometimes it can be a little tricky. it's quite slippery. >> yeah, i experienced that. i feel so awesome! >> curling may not be easy, but it is a lot of fun. for more information on getting involved, check out teenkidsnews.com. a physicist has been studying one of the great moves in baseball, sliding into home plate. the question, is it better to come in feet first or head first? the expert says head first is faster. but it's probably more painful. especially if the catcher is blocking your way.

>> does doing what i'm doing right now look like fun? here's a secret, it is. but working on the news is also a serious business. that's what students learn at the school nicole visited for

"college and u." hugging the shore along the illinois side of lake michigan, under the shadow of nearby chicago, is northwestern university. northwestern is home to the medill school of journalism. since the wild prohibition days of roaring '20s medill's earned a reputation for turning out highly qualified young journalists. >> we have 12,000 plus graduates who hold positions in media companies all over the world. i can't think of any major news organization, any major magazines or tv networks or websites that don't have medill grads in all levels, from coming up, to very senior. >> although medill is named

after a newspaperman who lived more than a hundred years ago, the school prides itself on teaching cutting-edge journalism. dean lavine gave me a tour of the state-of-art facilities. medill emphasizes hands-on experience with the latest in technology, because the news business is constantly changing. so, today at medill, we are having some lovely weather. traditional tv news, like newspapers, now competes with news that's delivered right to your computer or cell phone. >> the world will become more and more complicated, and the answers will show up in the palm of my hand. and we're educating people to make that happen. >> first students learn the basics. such as the ethics, laws and history of journalism. particular emphasis is put on improving their writing skills. medill says it closes the gap between the college classroom and real world experience.

to get that experience, medill students learn how to cover a local beat in chicago neighborhoods. they leave the ivy covered buildings on the evanston campus and are in storefront newsrooms, in very complicated multi lingual neighborhoods covering everything from education to gangs. >> and your professor says, "okay, you have four hours, go do a feature story on a business in the area and write a 500 word story on deadline and then post it to the medill server," and it's online. >> or, it's on the air. students are expected to master the many steps in tv production, from editing to delivering their stories on camera. >> we look at wheelchair rugby and its tough players. >> so, why go to a journalism school as opposed to a regular liberal arts college? >> because it's liberal arts plus what you need to get into journalism. journalists must have subject depth. they must really now how a

historician and think about a story. so we require all of that. >> when we return i'll tell you

the images from haiti are heart-breaking-- homes, hospitals, and schools destroyed; families searching for loved ones; parents trying to feed their children. but we can all do something. we can help the american red cross as it delivers the food, water, and medicine that can save lives. donate $10 by texting "haiti" to 9-0-9-9-9. visit redcross.org or call 1-800-red-cross. thanks for your help.

>> we're at the medill school of journalism at northwestern university. a school thousands of teens who want to be journalists apply to, every year. i asked northwestern's admissions dean what do they look for in an applicant. >> when we're evaluating students for medill, we need exceptionally strong writers for that program. we also look for students who've had a demonstrated interest in journalism. we certainly look for students who -- it's not just a whimsical decision on their part, that they've really thought about journalism as a career. >> medill's dean echoes that advice. he wants students who are eager to take journalism on into the 21st century. what's your single best piece of advice for someone applying to

medill? >> it has three parts. however much writing you're doing, triple it. however much reading you're doing, triple that, and spend a lot of time just scouring all the options of what the media is becoming so you really understand it in all its new forms. >> you might also apply to be a cherub, coming to northwestern before you apply to college. >> the cherub program is a five week summer program in which kids, high school students from all over the country, get to come to medill and learn from medill professors and other journalists actually in the field about what journalism is. and kind of figure out if that's something they'd want to pursue and to better their own high school papers. >> being a cherub is to get years worth of education in this packed summer, and be on a college campus and be with your peers. and make friends from all over the world. >> do you find that a lot of the cherubs end up applying to medill?

>> well, yes, although we're in the enviable position with one out of ten or eleven students who apply getting into medill. my goal will be to help them understand all the options of journalism education in america and abroad and help them get to where they want to go. >> it's really actually gotten me thinking, like i really want to do this. >> so, what have you learned? >> i've learned a lot. i've learned how to get information right. i've learned the most effective interview techniques and i've learned about ethics. >> how's my interview technique? >> not bad, not bad! >> if "j" school rates an "a" in your book, you don't have to wait. look for places you can try out your skills, like your school newspaper or a website. if you start writing news stories now, you'll find out if you enjoy journalism enough to keep going in college. >> important egyptians were preserved after death. we know the process as mummification. mummies of cats, birds and crocodiles have also been found. now, a mummified puppy has been found in a human tomb from more

than two thousand years ago. apparently, the puppy was meant to keep the man company in the afterlife. >> this report is brought to you by milk. what do a gold medal gymnast, an all-star basketball player, and a baseball mvp have in common? they're all part of milk's newest campaign, "drink milk for a change." >> still to this day it's a part of my diet and a part of my regimen in the morning. >> three glasses a day! >> the new dream team is calling on teens to drink naturally nutrient-rich milk for a positive change in themselves. each athlete is championing a new service project and urging teens to go online and vote for it. deron williams is a point-guard for the utah jazz. he's donning the milk mustache and supporting "project replenish," which will build a

new basketball court in san antonio. >> project replenish, my project is going to be great. i hope people vote for it. >> shawn johnson is a champion gymnast who won a gold medal during the beijing summer games. she's backing project shine, which will renovate an education center in detroit. >> with my milk mustache ad i'm not only encouraging teens to make good decisions every day, i'm encouraging them to change the world. get behind my project, project shine, lock in your vote and you know, be a supporter. you can really make a difference. >> and st. louis cardinals slugger albert pujols is promoting project build, which will build a new home for a family displaced by floods in georgia. at bodybymilk.com you can go there and pick a project that you're really passionate about, get behind it, vote for it. it's a great way to change the world and make a difference. >> the project with the most votes will become a reality. and one lucky winner will be picked to work alongside other professional athletes and celebrities on the winning project.

for "teen kids news," i'm lara. >> that's all for now but we'll be back soon with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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