"teen kids news" is on now and here's what we've got. reporter: vegetarian or vegan -- what you need to know before taking meat out of your diet. reporter: i'll tell you why billings, montana is called the "magic city." reporter: inside this workshop there's a craftsman who can turn you into a mermaid -- well, almost! reporter: i'll take you to israel, where refugees from violence in africa are given a new beginning. that and more on "teen kids news."

welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. ♪ >> you might be making a stand for the rights of animals. or perhaps you "simply" want to eat -- more "simply." you'd be joining a lot of young people, if you choose to become vegetarian or vegan. but as felipe reports -- it's not a step you should make without thinking, planning and learning. >> lucy's dad supports her decision to be vegetarian and helps her make meals. >> he took it as an opportunity to experiment with different cooking strategy.

>> reporter: vegetarians don't eat meat, and some don't eat fish. but they do eat eggs, milk and milk products like cheese. lucie made the choice to change her diet a few years ago, when she was a sophomore in high school. >> i heard the story of how they made veal, and it really like disturbed me i guess. >> reporter: a concern for animals, and the environment, was the reason emili fiegelson chose to be vegan. >> it just uses less water to be vegan. it uses less land -- all of which is sort of being depleted by our current system of agriculture. >> reporter: vegans don't eat any animal products. they also don't use anything made from animals like leather shoes or bags. >> being a vegan is like actively taking a more gentle footstep on the earth. >> reporter: shannon algiere is a grower at stone barns center for food and agriculture. the farm doesn't use pesticides or other chemicals and everything used for growing, including water, is recycled. emili became vegan after volunteering here. this is where she often buys vegetables for her meals. >> hey, how are you?

>> i'm good. how are you.? i'd like some scapes. >> reporter: by the way -- scapes are the stalks of garlic plants. while kinder to the earth, being vegan and even vegetarian is risky, especially when you're a teen. anne fletcher is a dietician and the author of weight loss confidential." she says anyone considering changing their diet, should make an important step first. >> the best thing for them to do is to go see a registered dietitian to make sure that they're getting a well balanced diet. they're getting adequate protein. >> reporter: both emili and lucie take vitamin supplements to replace iron, b-12, calcium and other important nutrients that come from meat and dairy. >> your body needs every vitamin so that's definitely something i have to watch out for is remembering to take that. >> reporter: very true. if you're interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan, as i just reported, you should definitely speak to a health professional, like your family doctor. stay with us. there's lots more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back.ck

reporter: this is israel -- a small nation in the middle east about the size of new jersey. the country grew out of the turmoil of world war ii when jews across europe faced terrible persecution by the nazis. it's remembered in history as the holocaust. many jews came here to build a new future. back then, a school for orphans of the holocaust opened, called havat hanoar. today, the school is still helping orphans -- welcoming refugees from all backgrounds and from all over the world. like the country itself, this school is very diverse.

>> i think that the jewish people must do it because of the history of the jewish people. >> reporter: danny chaim is sharing a special sabbath dinner with teenage refugees from africa. these young men risked their lives to escape the violence in their home country, sudan. unlike the other students at havat hanoar, the teens are not jewish. they're muslim. >> i think they know that they are living in jewish society, they are living in israeli culture, and we know that they have -- that they are special here, not like everyone in the beginning. >> reporter: in order to catch up with the other students at the school, the newcomers are learning two new languages -- along with a lot more. >> i learning hebrew. i learning english. i learning math. i learning history. i learning geography. >> reporter: abdel nasser's story is extraordinary. he and the other boys here ran away after their village was attacked by arab terrorists called janjaweed.

>> people want to kill me -- i gotta leave. >> reporter: they made their way out of sudan and across egypt. dodging gunfire from egyptian border guards, they finally made it all the way to israel. since they had entered the country illegally, they were put in jail. and that's where havat hanoar entered their lives. >> when we heard they were in prison, we decide that we must give some chance to live like young people in israel. and the government needs to decide what to do with them, but until they decide what to do with these kids, we need to give them life. >> reporter: someday the boys may be able to return to their home villages and help their families. in the meantime, abdel says he hopes to repay the country that saved him -- possibly by joining the israeli army. >> israel help me, take me to school, i study now here.

i finish school, i help country. you know, i help this country. this country help me, nobody want to kill me, everything is okay. >> reporter: their future is uncertain. but they will face that future with an education. and for now, these boys not only have a place of safety, they've become part of a family. reporter: and while i was here, they became part of my family too. for "teen kids news" from israel, i'm jessica.

we see them all the time, but very few of us look closely. except for kristen, who has some interesting facts about our state flags. ♪ reporter: in 1610, an english sea captain bound for

jamestown, virginia was blown off course. he found safety in a bay to the north. he named the area after a local baron -- lord de la warr. or as we say today -- delaware. delaware is a small state with a big history. it was the first colony to fly the thirteen star american flag during the revolution. it was also the first state to ratify the new u.s. constitution. >> and that's why delaware has the first seat in congress, whenever there is an inaugural address and things like that. it's seen as a place of honor, because they were the first state to sign the constitution. >> reporter: the flag proudly features the motto "liberty and independence" beneath the state seal. other symbols reflect the importance of shipping, agriculture, the delaware river, and the defense of freedom. and there's one more important image -- >> in delaware they chose to use the image of the diamond because, when thomas jefferson visited delaware, he thought it

was a "diamond of a state." he called it "the little diamond." >> reporter: with flag facts, i'm kristen. if you have ever thought about becoming a veterinarian, you'll want to pay close attention to this next report. jenna toured a place where vets get specialized training to provide top quality medical care to critters. [ meowing ] reporter: you heard correctly. that bird just meowed. [ meowing ] >> reporter: that's because this particular african grey parrot usually lives in a home with cats. >> there you go. you made a new friend! >> reporter: the parrot recently needed a doctor. so its owners brought her to new york city's animal medical center. these middle school students got a special tour. so how can you tell females from males, jen? >> with african greys they need a dna blood test to tell if they're male or female. >> reporter: trained

veterinarians come to the animal medical center to become specialists in their field. they've already learned how to treat animals. now they're becoming experts on a particular type of creature or illness. so, sue is what's called an english pointer. >> reporter: dr. nicole leibman is one of the busiest vets in the hospital. she's an oncologist. that means she treats patients that are fighting cancer. >> and she's doing very well. she's in remission and we're hopeful that she's going to be well for a long time. >> reporter: sue looks sad. but remission is good news. it means sue no longer shows signs of the disease. this cat named barney is just starting treatment. the kids had a chance to see the cancer cells that were taken from his body. >> you didn't see that much detail, but it was interesting because you saw what was actually inside the cat. >> reporter: this x-ray shows there was a lot more inside this puppy patient than should have been. >> this is a big huge knife, and you have to worry that maybe

it's going to shear through his esophagus. >> reporter: radiologists take the x-rays. they worked with surgeons to remove the knife without injuring the dog. >> now you're saying, "wow, you pulled it out. isn't it just going to slice right through?" in this case as long as you go pretty slow and you fill up the side of the esophagus with gas, you can actually avoid hitting the wall. >> reporter: as you can see, being a vet takes a lot of training. you have to go to college for four years, before attending veterinarian school for another four years. and getting into a vet school isn't easy. >> there are only 27 colleges of veterinary medicine in the united states. that means every state does not have a veterinary school of its own. >> reporter: dr. ann hoenhaus heads up the animal medical center. she says there's a need for new veterinarians, especially those who want to do research. but to be a good vet you have to be dedicated to the animals and their owners. >> you have to remember that you have to love people, too.

because every pet, on the end of their leash, is a human being -- an animal and a human owner. they don't come to us all by themselves. >> reporter: and just like a human doctor, you have to be willing to work all hours. the animal medical center is open every day of the year, 24 hours a day. these vets want to make sure our best friends get the care they need when they need it. for teen kids news. i'm jenna. 

reporter: welcome to billings, montana. it's one of the great frontier towns of the old west. it's also my hometown. ♪ to help tell some of the history of billings, is kevin kooistra-manning. he's with the western heritage center.

and joyce jensen wrote a book about the town. >> reporter: how did billings get its name? >> billing got its name from frederick billings, former president of the northern pacific railroad. they honored him by naming the town after him. >> reporter: the railroad actually created the town. and it happened almost by accident. >> there was a nearby town by the name of coulson, which expected to be the next great railroad town. but instead, because they raised prices and made it kind of inconvenient for the rail road, the railroad decided to build their own town, the town of billings. and billings basically prospered and coulson disappeared. >> reporter: about the only thing left of colson is boot hill cemetery. >> this is the burying grounds of coulsen. most people buried here died violently. there were murders, suicides and accidents. they died with their boots on, so we call it "boot hill." >> reporter: meanwhile, back at billings -- >> when the railroad came in, billings grew so quickly one writer said, "like mushrooms after a rain storm." it quickly took on the nickname

"the magic city." >> reporter: the town's history is dotted with a lot of colorful characters. for example, calamity jane -- >> calamity was quite a character. she did all kinds of things no woman would do. no lady anyway. she rode astride. she could smoke, drink and cuss with the best of the men. she drove ox teams like men did. so she did men's work. but she was a really interesting person in that she was an awfully good nurse and a whole lot of people really liked calamity. in the 1920s, air shows were going on all over the country. there were wing walkers. there were stunt fliers and an air show came to town with a wing walker. unfortunately for them, they went broke here and lost all their money and that wing walker needed a job. he went to work as a mechanic. later he became the most famous man in america when he flew solo across the atlantic. his name was charles lindberg. >> reporter: another famous flyer who visited billings was amelia earhart.

ernest hemingway actually got into a car accident and was hospitalized here with a broken arm. fortunately, that didn't end his writing career. >> well, billings was placed in the heart of crow country. the crow indian reservation is across the yellowstone river. the crow have always been a part of billings history. early on, they came here, traded in the stores that opened. later on the crow were a big part of our annual fair. and of course, today, a lot of people in billings travel to the annual crow fair and celebrate crow culture and traditions. >> reporter: billings is also known for its striking natural beauty. it's hard to believe that this area was once covered by a great sea. >> there are large cliffs of sandstone around billings. great walls of rock. we call them the rimrocks, or the rims. that's all that's left of that great inland sea. >> reporter: from the top of the rims, you can see present day billings. >> well, billings has always been a major transportation center here in the northern

great plains. it had irrigation, which allowed agriculture to prosper. we grow sugar beets here for refined white sugar. we're an oil and gas center. we have hospitals here, colleges. and because we have so much diversity, unlike other frontier towns, billings has continued to prosper and grow through all the years. >> reporter: billings even has its own theme song -- ♪ in the shadow of the rimrocks by the banks of the yellowstone. there's a place ♪ ♪ i long to be in there's a place i call my home you're a ♪ ♪ booming human city and you're really rather pretty billings my city, my home ♪ >> reporter: and visitors are always welcome to sample

billings western hospitality. i'm carrie for "teen kids news."

when it comes to getting ahead in school, a lot of little things add up to success. here's natalie with advice on how to make the grade. reporter: hands on the keyboard! for kids of our generation, it's second nature. with most homework written on a computer, typing skills are part of scholastic survival. but that doesn't mean you can let your handwriting slide! it's not just about taking notes in class that you can read the next day. the sat test now has a writing section. your handwritten essay is scanned into the college board system for grading. if your handwriting is too messy to read, you could lose precious points! so take a little time each week to brush up your handwriting skills.

try writing a thank you note to someone who did something nice for you. and guys, that advice is for you, too. a handwritten "thank you" is the sign of a lady and a gentleman. especially if the hand writing is readable! i'm natalie, and that's one way to make the grade. wood carving is a craft that requires tremendous patience, steady hands, and an eye for beauty. erika introduces us to a man who has all three and loves what he does. >> reporter: salvatore polisi is a master craftsman with a unique skill. >> i carve figureheads, anywhere from eight foot tall to a foot tall. figureheads are characters -- women, men, it could be animals -- that are on a bow of a sailing vessel. it's part of the design of the ship. they would not sail without them, up until around the 1900s.

but prior to that, every ship had one. >> reporter: the idea seems to have started with the vikings. >> they used it on their ships -- the dragon heads and what have you, on the bow of their ships. and superstition was a big thing. and also identification of a ship. sailors did not always know how to read, but they knew what the figurehead of their ship looked like. >> reporter: sal crafts his work out of a small studio, on the pier of the south street seaport museum in new york. so, when the museum's own historic ship named the "wavertree" needed a figurehead to grace its bow, they knew who to call. >> reporter: how do you start the carvings? >> i start the carvings by, i do a lot of drawings, and i also do clay models of the figure, and knowing the size, i'll start carving, as an example, a head first. you laminate the pieces together as you would a butcher block. >> reporter: so what do you do after you finish carving the clay model? >> then you want to get the measurements from the clay model.

then i start drawing lines, take the measurements of the eyes, the forehead, the chin, then the nose, and down to here. carving taking out pieces here and here. and i start dropping back, and bringing the nose forward. if you make a mistake, then you have to carve deeper, and if you keep carving deeper, you keep adding wood in the back, because you're taking a lot of wood away in the front. so, you can make mistakes, but it's costly, because it requires a lot of time. >> reporter: when it's completed, this figurehead will be eight feet tall. it will replace an earlier version, that sal created many years ago. >> the dress she'll have will have a 23 carat gold design, with real gold laid into it. and she'll be looking up like so, over the horizon. she's the eyes of the ship. >> reporter: sal showed us one

of his other works in progress -- a partially assembled mermaid. >> i have to put the rest of it together, and that's how i can work on the rest of the body, and finishing and painting it. once i get done with that, i can laminate the pieces together. >> reporter: after seeing sal's abilities first-hand, i had just one more question -- >> reporter: sal, think you can make a figurehead out of me? >> definitely! fins and all! [ laughing ] >> reporter: from sal's workshop 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!

write to us at info@teenkidsnews.com. and a big thank you to our troops in iraq for their service.