7,000 students drop out every school day. visit boostup.org and help kids in your community stay in school. these people really needed us and i was going to make a difference, right here in my community. announcer: be there for your community, at nationalguard.com. "teen kids news" is on now, and here's what we've got. find out about a growing cancer threat to teens and a young victim who survived. i'll have a great story about teens who saw a need and served up a long distance solution.

a country store that brings everything full circle. i'll explain. need to print out a class report? i'll show you how to do it the old-fashioned way, if you've got the time. and much more, next, on "teen kids news." welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. whether it's from the sun or a tanning bed, that glow in your cheeks could be anything but healthy. and here's something you might not realize -- being young doesn't protect you from the effects of damaging rays. amanda reports on a rise in skin cancer among teens. >> most kids her age think it'll never happen to them. >> reporter: cancer was

certainly not on valerie's mind when she would head for the beach with her family. >> it's very hard for me not to burn, and a couple of times i'd burned very bad, especially when i went down south for spring break in florida. >> reporter: that could be how valerie developed a dangerous skin cancer called a melanoma. at the age of 15, she became part of a startling statistic. the number of americans diagnosed with melanoma each year has shot up more than 40%. and it's no longer a problem only for adults. >> melanoma is growing in frequency in children. >> reporter: one reason could be that almost everyone loves a day at the beach or the pool. even if you do wear sunscreen, the water might wash it off, plus you're out in the sun for hours. >> two weekends ago, i fell asleep on a lawn chair next to the pool, and i ended up getting burnt on one side because the sun shifted. >> sunburns really hurt. >> reporter: experts at nationwide children's hospital in columbus, ohio, point out

that even when a sunburn fades, the damage to the skin is still there. >> the degree of the sunburns that the child may have accumulated throughout their lifetime, by the time they get to teen age or early adulthood, is enough to result in a melanoma. >> reporter: so be on the lookout for changes in the skin that could be warning signs of cancer. that's how valerie's was detected. >> what we ask families to look for are moles or freckles that are changing in character over a very short period of time. they're growing, changing in colors, the borders or the edges are becoming very irregular. >> reporter: you also need to keep applying that sunscreen, even if your skin is naturally brown. if you love winter sports, keep in mind that the snow intensifies the sun's damaging rays. so, put on sunscreen when you're on the slopes, as well. and avoid tanning beds. >> teenagers who go to tanning

beds definitely are thinking about right now and not their future. >> reporter: valerie's future looks good because her melanoma was found early enough for effective treatment. and now she knows that even a suntan can be dangerous. >> i like the look of a suntan. yeah, i try to get pretty dark myself. >> well, i have a suntan now, so if i said i didn't i'd be kind of a hypocrite. >> reporter: looks like we need to rethink what looks good. remember, when your skin changes color, that's a sign that it has already been damaged, so instead of putting on a sunstan, put on some sunscreen or maybe even a hat. for "teen kids news" i'm amanda. stay with us. there's lots more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. i wake up in the morning with no back pain. do you toss and turn? wake up with back pain? if so, call us now. you'll learn how the sleep number bed helps relieve back pain by allowing you to adjust the firmness and support to conform to your body for a more proper spinal alignment.

just look at this research... 93% of participants experienced back-pain relief. plus it's a great value because it costs about the same an innerspring yet lasts twice as long. so if you want to sleep better or find relief for your bad back, call now. call the number on your screen for your free information kit with dvd brochure and price list. call now and we'll include a free $50 savings card. call now for your free information and this free $50 savings card. call now! this is where almost half of american undergraduates go to school -- their local community college. there are more than 1,600 community college campuses around the country from big cities to tribal reservations.

most offer two-year programs at a much lower cost than four-year colleges. >> right now for me, it's easier financially. so i would say it's better doing it this way. >> reporter: according to the american association of community colleges, a majority of their students attend part time. most hold down other jobs, while they work on degrees that will lead to a career. >> we have accounting, we have education, we having nursing or licensed practional nursing and many others. there's at least 16 to 20 associate and applied science degrees that we have here at the college. >> reporter: but a community college can also be a pathway to a four-year college, and then on to law school or medical school. students starting here save money not only on tuition, but also on room and board if they're living at home. >> 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: so students come to schools like bronx community college for all kinds of reasons. and here's an inspiring statistic. 39% of community college students represent the first generation of their families to attend college. students like jennifer. >> since i'm starting off first from everybody else in my family, i wanted to try it out. you know, get the experience. you know, start here first. >> reporter: so if four years of college away from home doesn't seem right for you, check out a nearby community college. it might just have the ticket to your future. i'm lauren for "teen kids news." let's show a little state pride. here's kristen with some interesting facts about our state flags. ♪ >> reporter: the flag for washington state has a unique color. it also has unique origins,

linking it to a box of cough syrup. author randy howe has this week's "dose of flag history." >> washington state is unique for two reasons. it's the only green flag of the 50 states, and it is also the only flag to include the image of a person on it, and obviously that person is george washington. and it's from the portrait that was painted by gilbert stuart. he was an artist from rhode island, and it's the most famous portrait of george washington. but there were brothers who were put in charge of creating the image for the flag, and they went about designing it, coming up with all the different lettering. they had it perfect, except the image they had of george washington came from a box of cough syrup. and it just wouldn't do. and in the 11th hour, they found gilbert stuart's portrait of george washington, put it on the flag, and it was accepted by the legislators in washington, and we still have the flag today. >> reporter: with flag facts, i'm kristen.

peter and caroline davis have been playing tennis since they were old enough to hold racquets, but it's not just their athletic ability that makes this brother and sister team special. they are using their love of tennis to help change lives halfway around the world. it all started with the coach, teza. he's from zambia, a country in southern africa with a lot of poverty. more than half the population lives on less than $2 a day. >> i know how some kids unfortunately do not have enough activities, and, you know, when i go to zambia, i try to teach them tennis and i know how important tennis is to them because it was important to me.

>> reporter: one day teza showed peter and caroline a photograph that forever changed their lives. >> it was just the only time in my life when really a picture was worth a thousand words. there was a line of kids, and all of them were wearing shoes and there were probably only two racquets for the entire line and then we look around here, and we have all these extra racquets and all these extra supplies just laying around. >> reporter: peter and caroline took action. they collected donations of used racquets, shoes and clothing to send to the kids in africa. >> we just got this stuff in, so it should be good. >> reporter: with the help of family and friends, they founded a nonprofit organization called "serving zambia." "serving zambia" does more than just provide tennis gear. >> education is a huge component. and so when the kids come back, they go through their report cards, and if someone's not doing well, they say, "well you can't play until you do better

in school." and you would think, here, that that might not be a huge motivating factor, but these kids love to play so much that if they can't play for two days because they didn't do well in skeel, they're going to make sure they go home and do well. for the kids in zambia, like, ages 8 to 14 are really crucial ages because that's when people might go off the path, so we realized that sending these kids tennis racquets, it would provide them with something to do so they stayed out of trouble. they'd have a lot of fun doing it. >> reporter: fun is not something these kids are used to having. zambia has one of the highest rates for aids in the world. many of these kids lost parents to the deadly disease. >> and you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, and it's not just, "i want to be roger federer or the world's top tennis players." it's, "i want to be a fireman. i want to be a policeman." and it's kind of this unique group. everyone's in it for everyone else and they're all in it together and it's just this really great feeling that i don't think is always present here. >> reporter: caroline and peter

experienced that firsthand when they visited zambia. >> it was really, really special to see how grateful the kids were and how excited they were, so knowing that my racquet is going to these kids and it's making an impact on their life makes me want to keep doing this for as long as we can. >> any new people on the facebook page? >> there's a few. looks like we're getting a few every day. >> reporter: "serving zambia" now has a group on facebook for people to get involved. >> anyone can get up and say, "i'm going to go there and help" and they just get involved, you know? get in touch with us and get involved so you can see -- whatever way you're helping you can just, you know, take part in it. >> our long-term goal is to build a permanent facility and that would involve finding some flatland, and then raising the money to build a court which is just concrete, and paving the

lines, getting nets and just building something that will outlast our efforts and that will always be there for these kids. >> reporter: serving zambia now serves more than 500 kids. visit our website to learn how you can help. visit our website to learn how you can help. the superpowe

hands can do incredible things. now they can even help save a life, with hands-only cpr. if you see an adult suddenly collapse, just call 911 then push hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives. learn more at handsonlycpr.org. thanks and have a nice day. >> you're welcome. we will. >> thank you. >> reporter: at this country store, teens get a taste of the real world. it's part of a program at green chimneys, a school for students with special needs. >> learn and earn has been around green chimneys, and it's a great concept. the kids learn as they're earning a little bit of extra money and it gives them a little self-pride. if they're caught with math it's a different way they can learn

math skills by working the cash register, measuring tomatoes in the kitchen, whatever it might be. so it's just a different avenue for kids to build some self-esteem. >> yeah, we were putting them in a bag and also weighing them and which is one of the scales we use over here and we have another scale over there where we mainly do weighing. >> reporter: what's super special about this country store and farm stand is that the produce is grown by the students. it all happens at the school's bonnie bell farm. >> students down here at bonnie bell, we have the organic garden which kids work and they plant. they will take seeds from the packet and grow them in the greenhouse, put them in dirt, then bring them all the way to the end where they can actually eat the fruit and sell the fruit on the farm stand. >> first we plant them, and then we pick them. >> and then we wash them. >> reporter: then they sell the fruits of their labor. and the veggies as well.

>> well, i come down here once a week. i have two-hour shifts, which is i'll come down and take the tractor, drive around and pick up all the vegetables we collect during the year and we'll start harvesting. we harvest everything, and then we sell it on our stands, and then well take it to the country store. >> $6 for a pound and half. what would that be per pound?ur? our mission, our mandate is to g children to a point where they can engage in their communities in a positive way. they learn how to shake a hand, look a person in the eye, to engage them in a very friendly way. and when you're in sales, like the store, you have to understand how powerful that is when you're trying to sell a product, how to communicate in a positive way. >> all right, would you guys like help looking for something? >> you know what, i have a question. do you guys have any beeswax

candles? >> actually, yes, we do. >> you do? >> they're over here. >> i have learned that there's life skills and stuff that i need to grow to learn how to do this stuff for society. . >> how to open the cash register. how to calculate and how to help other people. >> i learned being able to open up to people instead of yelling and cursing. >> reporter: in addition to the produce, students make homemade honey and maple syrup. >> have you tried it? >> yes. >> is it really good? >> yeah. >> well, then we'll get some, thank you. >> reporter: wow, i'd love to try some of that. for more information about green chimneys, visit our website. all right, young america, what's your opinion? we'll find out in "speak of the week." ♪ >> superman has them. spiderman has them. even tony stark has them. sort of.

if you could have any superpower, what would it be? >> it would be the power to read people's minds so i could make decisions with more accurate information. >> the ability to fly, because i've always liked planes, and i think it would be really great to go anywhere i want without roads. >> fly, because then you could fly around the world, and it would be really cool. >> teleportation. because i'm always late to everywhere. i don't think i've been on time any time this week. >> i would be invisible. >> super speed, because i play football so i need to be fast. >> you know, i actually do have a super power -- the ability to disappear. [ snaps fingers ] for "teen kids news," i'm sam. [nursery music playing]

just three granules of lead dust can harm your child. if your home was built before 1978, log onto leadfreekids.org. girl: mom, can i have a dollar? yeah. it's right-- i think my purse is upstairs on the bed. it's not here. check the dining room. nope. what about your sister's room? not there, either. the upstairs closet? the downstairs closet. there are no more closets. announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. i hope you find a home. i hope you find a home. hey, maybe you'll be picked next. maybe you'll be picked next. we've been caged together too long.

we've been caged together too long. how come nobody ever picks me? maybe they're looking for somebody different. pick me! well, the shelter's closing up for another day. we didn't get picked. i know. tomorrow. guaranteed. now let's check out something cool to do online. click this.

♪ >> reporter: if you ever wanted to learn how to cook, but didn't want to ask your mom or sister, then this site is for you. it's called coolkidscooking.com. it has tons of info that can have you cooking up a storm in no time. check out the recipes section so you can impress your friends by learning how to cook some delicious entrees and desserts. there's even an area where you can enter a bunch of competitions with a chance to win prizes. so log on, don your chef's hat and get cooking. advertising is everywhere you turn -- on the internet, in grocery carts, even on the local park bench. as erika explains, it hasn't always been like that. and maybe she's discovered the reason why. >> reporter: nowadays, when you want to print something, you turn to your computer. but 150 years ago, it wasn't that easy.

hi. i'm here with doug klaus, master printer, and we're at bowne and company station. hi, doug. >> hi, erika. >> reporter: how are you? >> good, how are you? >> reporter: can you tell us a little about the history of the printing press? >> sure. the printing press was developed in the 15th century, around the 1450s by gutenberg in germany. the printing press had an enormous effect on our culture, on human culture, because it allowed knowledge and culture to be spread really quickly to a lot of people. so soon after the press was invented in the 1450s, it spread throughout europe in 20 to 25 years. today, you know, we're all used to just hitting a button and getting whatever you want, and whatever typeface you want immediately. this was a lot more trouble, a lot more work. type was all in little pieces, much like these. individual pieces of metal or wood, and you had to put them together upside down and backwards, so it was a lot of work, and took a lot more people than it, than printing takes now. >> reporter: so can you give us a little demonstration on how it works? >> sure.

in the press right now, i've got some wood type locked up from our collection. it's some wood type from the 19th century. it just says the word "seaport." and below that, i have a little "bowne & company incorporated, established 1775." so first, i've got to get some ink on here, so i'm just going to step back here. i've got some ink already on a roller. and i just roll it across the face of the type. i need to put a piece of paper right here, i've got one. i lift this up, which is called a frisket, put this on the timpin. the frisket holds the paper in place, and then i lower this down onto the type, and here's where you can help. >> oh, cool. >> so you're bringing it under the part of the press that actually applies the pressure on to the paper and the ink and the type. and to actually apply that pressure, you've got to pull this, which is called a devil's tail.

keep going as far as you can. that's good. now bring it back slowly. and then turn that clockwise. >> reporter: so can you give us an example of what might have been printed from this a 150 years ago? >> sure. you would've printed sort of small fliers so you might've printed, say you were in this neighborhood, a flier advertising a shipping service. and here's an example of something that was actually printed in the neighborhood. >> reporter: how many of these could you print in an hour on this press? >> it would take two people here at the press, just like you and i are standing here right now. they would be in that same position. and you might be able to print 200 in an hour if you're really going well. >> reporter: so how many pieces like this could you print today in an hour? >> well, if you were on a large industrial press, you could print tens of thousands of these in an hour.

>> reporter: 200 then versus thousands today. now i understand why ads were typically smaller, simpler and in just one color. and they didn't include photos because, well, cameras were just being invented. so, doug, what do we have here? >> we have a cabinet of type that shows two cases of metal type. and there's one right here at the top, and one on the bottom. and this is the source of our words "upper case and lower case," because the capital letters are kept in the upper case, and the lower in the lower case. here's an upper case "p" and a lower case "p." and a little interesting fact about lower case ps. they are often easy to confuse with lowercase bs and qs. and this is a source of another phrase in our language, which is "mind your ps and qs," because ps and qs are really easy to confuse when you're setting type. >> reporter: from bowne & company at the south street seaport, i'm erika for "teen kids news." that wraps up our show, 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 write to us at info@teenkidsnews.com. here's a shout yot to news

wire for including "teen kids news" on the big screen in new york city. >> a big thanks to our troops in as turning a 20-foot wall into a canvas takes vision. so will getting into college. i've got what it takes. so do you. [thunder] announcer: up to 40% of businesses never recover