at issue is a health problem that affects millions of american kids, a health problem that is preventable. hip hop comes to the classroom. we'll see how it works. a sport you might never expect to see in school gets rolling. do you think college is not for you because of the cost? think again. >> 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. >> first lady michelle obama has launched an all-out attack on obesity in america. i was there at the town meeting. these are some of the things she had to say. >> when we planted the garden,

the white house kitchen garden, a year ago, we did it to start a conversation with young people about eating healthy. and then to see the statistics, seeing that one in three kids in this country is overweight or obese and that we're on track for the first time ever for our kids to live shorter lives than we do. i wouldn't want that fate for my girls, and i don't want it for any of you or any other kids in this country. so we started "let's move," and hopefully it will catch on, and you guys are going to be the key ambassadors to really make this happen because this is really about you and it's about the kids that are going to follow you. you guys have the power to start doing it. >> what did you think of the first lady's conference? >> i thought it was really interesting. she emphasized a lot about little changes that we can make and how we all have to work together to eat healthy. >> it's not just how the federal government can help, but it's how we all can play a part in

helping childhood obesity. >> the speeches are over. the plan of attack on obesity has been launched. "teen kids news" was honored to be part of it today. i'm rocky reporting from washington for "teen kids news." new york city has a new, dubious honor -- the capital of road rage. a survey says the big apple has the angriest drivers, tailgating, speeding, honking and losing their tempers. the runners-up are dallas-fort worth and detroit. the place with the nicest drivers, portland, oregon. >> stay with us. there's lots more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. it's the first two-in-one lipstain and balm. the lipstain gives me a light flush of color while the moisturizing balm softens my lips. have you ever been bitten? new revlon just bitten lipstain and balm.

this book report is brought to you by claim stake publishing.

meet gannon and wyatt wheeler. these twin brothers are globe-trotting explorers. >> we were really born into this project. we've been traveling since we were little kids and we're just really fortunate to have the class, the world as our classroom. >> their experiences are the basis for a new series of books called "travels with gannon and wyatt." the first novel finds the teen travelers in southern africa. >> the book's basically about me and my brother having a crazy adventure in botswana. >> the brothers go on a safari, visit local tribes, and get up close and personal with africa's wildlife. >> when you go on safari, you want to see the big five. the big five is the elephant, the lion, the leopard, the rhino and the cape buffalo. >> well, the scariest animal that i came across had to be a leopard. a leopard is going to think about attacking you versus where a lion would not. >> the idea of turning their journeys into a fictionalized adventure series came from their

mother, patti. >> i wrote the book because i truly do believe in the words of mark twain, that travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice and narrow-mindedness, and i wanted my children to experience that and feel that way as well. >> in "travels with gannon and wyatt: botswana" the boys discover that the biggest threat in africa isn't a wild animal. >> there's a poacher who wounds a lioness, and she runs into the bush, and he's trying to find her to finish off the job, and we're trying to help save the lioness and her cubs. and that's kind of the main background of the story. >> reporter: each copy of the book comes with a dvd featuring behind-the-scenes footage of gannon and wyatt's adventures. >> i love the idea of a dvd because it creates a more intimate experience for the reader. they can see what gannon and wyatt saw when they were in

botswana, and they can learn what they learned when they were in botswana. i think that creates a unique experience for the reader. not only does the book make for good reading, it actually helps to do good. >> each one of our books will provide some proceeds to a need of the country that we go to. >> one thing that i learned in botswana is water is extremely scarce. we went to this bushman village in the kalahari desert, and they didn't have any water or anything there or anything they were just running around. half of them didn't have clothes. so we picked the bushmen of the kalahari. >> there's only a few of them left in the world. >> so if you buy a book, you're helping the bushmen. >> reporter: the book is available online through amazon or at travelswithgannonandwyatt.com. >> i think they're going to have a good time reading it. it's a fun book to read. >> all in all it's an adventure book. so who doesn't love adventure, right?

>> reporter: right. for "teen kids news," i'm lauren. time to play guess the president. you get 4 clues and 20 seconds to check your knowledge of white house history. here goes. this president was an army captain in world war i. then he opened a men's clothing store back home in missouri. he was franklin delano roosevelt's vice president. and he ended world war ii by deciding to drop atomic bombs on japan. harry s. truman, our 33rd president. famous for saying "the buck stops here." that means he took the blame and the credit for his administration. hey, sports is next. so don't go away.

something men have to worry about is losing their hair someday. but thousands of guys around the world are volunteering to go bald. as siena reports, the st. baldrick's foundation is battling childhood cancer with an electric razor. >> the foundation holds hundreds of events every year, where men line up to lose their locks. first of all, who is st. baldrick's anyway? >> there really is no st. baldrick. it's the four guys who started st. baldrick's are irish, so it's a play on words with st. patrick's. people shave their heads in honor of the children with cancer. and today we're going to have those little honorees here helping to shave people's heads and raise awareness and money for childhood cancer, to cure childhood cancer. >> reporter: many children fighting the disease lose their hair during treatment. the men of st. baldrick's want to show the kids they're not alone. >> they don't have a choice. i have a choice. i'm going to show my support. if they can do it, i can do it too.

>> reporter: in the weeks before the event, the shavees ask friends and family to donate money to the cause. >> thank you so much. >> in total, over my three years of shaving, i've raised over $10,000, i believe. >> reporter: that money goes to children's hospitals and scientists working on new treatments. since 2000, st. baldrick's has donated an incredible $60 million. >> my hope is that the money we raise today, who knows, maybe we will fund a doctor and she will find the cure for childhood cancer. >> round of applause for joe, everyone! >> yea! [ applause ] >> wow, feeling good! >> reporter: and st. baldrick's isn't just for men. some very brave girls decided to lose it all for the kids. >> i'm a little bit nervous, because i'm just afraid i'm going to be cold from not having any hair. so that's pretty much my primary concern at this point. >> let's hear it for them! come on, it's a big deal! >> it feels really strange. whoo.

i really would like a mirror. >> reporter: james had his hair shaved by eli, a boy he's gotten to know well through st. baldrick's. >> he's like my little brother. i love this kid. >> it looks funny. >> you know, without big events like this, a lot of times people don't even know about childhood cancer, period. let alone that we need funding for it, that we need money for research. >> reporter: the people at st. baldrick's say you don't have to lose your locks to help out. >> if even one person in your class says they'll shave their head, then you can do cookie sales and fundraising and help them along. you don't have to give up your hair. you just need one silly kid to do it. >> i'm happy. this is fun. >> those people are true heroes. to learn more about st. baldrick's, visit our website. it's a hugely popular sport known for its impressive tricks, thrills, and spills. but it's probably the last sport

you'd see added to a school curriculum. tyler's here to tell us about it. tyler? >> mwanzaa, this is not your typical gym class. these high school students are skateboarding for credit. its third period at east side community high school, and these students are rolling into gym class. here, skateboarding is an elective. students can take it instead of the typical phys ed courses. >> everybody line up. you ready? >> reporter: professional skateboarder billy rohan is the coach. he was running a popular after school program when the principal took notice. >> and so, i asked billy, would you be interested in doing this as a gym class, and he jumped at the idea. >> i put together a curriculum and we started the class. it was a big success. >> reporter: most adults probably look at skateboarding as a rather hazardous sport. but billy says with the right emphasis on safety it's really not. >> one of the biggest myths of skateboarding is how dangerous it is. it's actually way less dangerous

than most sports. like the most common injuries are sprained ankles and sprained wrists. so we try to warm them up enough where that doesn't happen. >> reporter: so class begins with stretching. >> left leg. one two -- i can't hear you. three, four. >> reporter: billy also makes sure students always wear their safety gear. drills are next. and for the last 20 minutes of class they free-skate. >> free skate is where i see kids progress the most. the idea is you copycat each other and you grow faster with skateboarding that way. >> reporter: while some students are skating for the first time, others get a chance to work on more advanced stuff. but regardless of skating ability, the students all agree billy has helped them sharpen their skills. >> i've improved a lot. i never used to like stand on the board. now i can do a lot of tricks. i love it. it's just fun.

>> i'm able to turn now. i'm able to somewhat land an ollie at times. and i can finally kick up my board without having to pick it up from the floor. >> reporter: and all that effort makes for a good workout. >> well, i don't know if you've seen a lot of skateboarders around. but there's not too many fat skateboarders. it gets them in shape. >> skateboarding is a good way to do exercise because it's fun and you get to enjoy it at the same time. >> reporter: the students use boards and helmets donated by billy's pro sponsors. along with getting healthy and learning to skate, mr. mullen hopes this program will inspire students. >> just the experience of kids trying something that they never would have thought of trying and they realize, hey, i can do this, so maybe that life lesson will roll over to some other things about trying new things and giving it a go. >> it's true. for many of these kids, this class has become something more. >> yeah, every single day i come after school like as soon as i finish my work, i come outside to the skate park. i skate all day, until i get tired. >> it's who i am. it's my hobby. it's what i do. it's what i like to do in my spare time.

>> skateboarding. it's fun. >> skateboarding originated in california. surfers wanted something to do on land when the ocean was flat. they called it "sidewalk surfing." i'm tyler, and that's sports for this week.

you might have heard that college within expensive. your parents certainly know it. but that doesn't mean higher education is out of reach. nicole talked to insiders about how to make college more affordable. >> reporter: many college and university campuses are so beautiful they can seem like a dream. but some families fear it's an impossible dream when they consider the cost. the price tag for tuition, room and food at some top schools is over $50,000 a year. why is college so expensive?

>> college is expensive because we offer quite a bit to our students. it's expensive to have the labs that we have. it's expensive to have the research facilities we have. it's expensive to have all of the different studios that we have and the athletic facilities that we have. >> reporter: and of course hiring top faculty costs a lot of money, too. especially hiring enough professors to keep class sizes small. but here's good news from the college board. >> affording college is the dream that can come true for every family. >> reporter: that's because there are many kinds of financial aid available. grants and scholarships, which you don't have to repay. loans that you can pay back after graduation. and what's called "work-study," jobs on campus where you earn your keep. >> go to the college's website and visit the financial aid page. and find out as much information as you can about the college. how they distribute their aid and how much aid they have to distribute.

>> reporter: along with help from financial aid offices, you can also look for independent organizations that have money to give. >> visit our website, collegeboard.com, to learn about scholarships and grants that are available for you. we have over 2,000 sources online with over $3 billion worth of monies. >> reporter: while you're online, check out colleges that have no tuition at all such as the military academies. and don't forget that a third of all full-time students attend two-year colleges. they're much less expensive, and you can still graduate from another school if you choose. >> a savvy consumer will look at the community college as an opportunity to offset the first two years of their education, and then transferring to a four-year institution to complete the four-year degree. >> reporter: wherever you go to college, if you're getting financial help you'll fit right in. the college board says more than half of all students receive some sort of aid. needing it does not mean you won't be accepted.

>> in fact, students who need aid, at some colleges they're looking for you. they're looking for students from all income levels and all backgrounds. so your chances are as strong as anyone else's. >> here's the bottom line from the experts. if you're a good student, you belong in college. and there's help available to belong in college. and there's help available to get you there.

tommy's a really good kid. my tommy would never even think about trying alcohol. isn't that right, sweetie? the mailbox... [horn honks] and the traffic light. both are ideas from the minds of african americans. support the united negro college fund. because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

here's another reason to cut back on cola. doctors say drinking too much of it can zap your muscle power. even diet cola can drain potassium from your blood, and that's something your body needs. so next time you're thirsty you might want to reach for something that isn't carbonated or overly sweetened. think water. rhyming. it's how we remember the alphabet. advertisers use rhymes in jingles to make products unforgettable. and as jenna reports, a modern approach to rhyming is a tool for teachers, too. we inject infuse vocab into raps, raps into these classrooms

it's two class acts. >> reporter: this isn't your typical hip-hop duo. blake, the mc, used to be an english teacher. and alex the dj has a college degree in music. ♪ two lights ignite ♪ paul's like oh yikes, hops on his ride he and dawes right through the night ♪ >> reporter: they know that for some kids traditional teaching techniques don't always work. >> students aren't graduating. students aren't reading. and we think that something needs to change. >> so what we want to do through this music is get you guys a little bit psyched about history. >> whether it's in hip-hop or not, rhyming is just a very powerful way to learn something. >> reporter: their method is called flocabulary. >> like an androgynous misogynist. those are harder words. >> like how peanut butter always tasted better with jelly we added flow to vocab to get flocabulary. >> speaking of stink i had the odious task of cleaning all the dishes. the food was no longer toothsome and delicious.

>> reporter: in other words, they use hip-hop beats and rhymes to help kids broaden their vocabulary. they started with 500 s.a.t. words. >> the word "vim" means liveliness, energy, vigor. so it's a noun. >> reporter: their songs aren't just a lyrical vocabulary list. they use a story to relate words to their definitions. ♪ the odor's so pungent you can smell it down the block ♪ ♪ putrid, rancid and rotten ♪ i had forsaken and forgotten >> reporter: alex and blake tour schools around the country. but they don't just teach, they encourage students to write their own vocab-building rhymes. ♪ you got no energy, vim, passed out like a ♪ >> it actually helped me get through the s.a.t. because it was kind of tough the first time. >> reporter: flocabulary isn't only about words. alex and blake have a new chapter in this hip-hop saga. now they're using it to help teach history.

♪ this was the winter 1773 ♪ and the british had a monopoly on selling tea ♪ >> in the same way that we remember when columbus sailed the ocean blue, 1492, but we don't remember when the pilgrims landed. it's like hey, how about just write a rhyme about when the pilgrims landed and you'll remember. >> the pilgrims came to this land of plenty. landing at plymouth in 1620. that's a rhyme you can use courtesy of alex, blake and me, jenna, for "teen kids news." this report is brought to you by warner brothers pictures. legend tells of a band of noble guardians, sworn to vanquish evil and to save our kingdom. but they remain lost in the mists of ga'hoole, hidden to all but those who believe. >> stop! you're going to give her daymares. >> but this is my favorite part.

>> reporter: from the makers of "happy feet" comes another animated fantasy adventure. soren, a young owl, is intrigued by his father's epic tales of the guardians of ga'hoole. but his brother, kludd, thinks these stories are nothing but rubbish. >> you have a soft head, soren, filled with stories and dreams. >> there's nothing wrong with dreams. >> reporter: and soren's dreams quickly become reality. the brothers find themselves face to face with the evil pure ones. >> my soldiers, it is time to take the owl kingdoms! >> those birds are doing something terribly wrong. >> and you're going to need to fly a long way to get to the guardians. >> you mean they're real? >> oh, they're real, all right. >> reporter: now it's up to soren and some brave owls to save their kingdoms. >> when you've flown as far as you can, you're halfway there! >> what did he say? >> we're halfway there! >> reporter: join these feathered friends as they embark

on the journey of a lifetime. with a sense of humor, of course. >> knock knock. >> who's there? >> owls. >> owls who? >> that's right. owls hoo. >> if i have to hear any more of his ridiculous owl jokes. >> hoo-oo it's hilarious! >> "legend of the guardians: the owls of ga'hoole" opens nationwide in theaters, 3d, and imax september 24th! for "teen kids news," i'm elizabeth. that's all for now, but we'll be back soon with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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