NewsBites for Kidz June 22-28 2003

All-American girls
Four sisters adopted from Poland celebrate 10 years in the country they've enthusiastically adopted.
BY JENNIFER JEFFERSON, Pioneer Press

Dellwood, Minnesota June 28- Ten years ago, when Paulina, Magda, Bogusia and Ania were adopted by a Twin Cities-area family, the four sisters from Poland could not speak English.

Today, as teens attending high school in Mahtomedi, they have made English their first language and America their new home.

On Sunday, they will celebrate a decade of citizenship in Dellwood with an open house.

"They are typical teenagers," said their mother, Grace McNamara, 47.

"They all like something different. At any point in time, you can hear different music coming out of each room," she says. "They also talk a lot and argue a lot, because they are all close in age."

All of the girls work except for Ania, 14.

Bogusia, 15, enjoys cooking and is the family's in-house computer wizard.

The girls love living in the United States.

"We don't dislike anything about America," said Paulina, who after graduation is considering enlisting in the National Guard. "It might sound corny, but I love this country."

The sisters lived at a small Catholic orphanage for girls in Chotomow, a village north of Warsaw. The director told her the siblings could not be split up. The sisters said the transition between the two nations has been relatively easy, in part because they don't remember much detail from their early years in Poland.

The McNamaras, though, made sure to maintain links to the sisters' heritage, sending them to Polish language classes for eight years at Holy Cross Catholic Church, a Polish enclave in Northeast Minneapolis.

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Where does 11 year-old Alice hide to escape the war? –Gulu, Uganda

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030628/ap_on_re_af/uganda_night_refugees_2

Frightened Children Flee Rebels in Uganda

By HENRY WASSWA, Associated Press Writer

GULU, Uganda June 28- Alice Acielo has a family and a home, but the 11-year-old girl has slept on the streets of this town in northern Uganda for nearly a month.

AP Photo

Acielo is among an estimated 20,000 children who leave their families every night and walk more than a mile to the government-controlled town of Gulu, afraid to sleep in their own homes in rural areas where rebels known for abducting kids roam unopposed.

Each day, when school ends, Acielo and her brothers rush home, drop off their books and uniforms and then make the two-mile hike to Gulu, about 225 miles north of Kampala, the capital.

At dawn, they rush back home to grab books and uniforms before heading to school.

"When I started school, I wanted to be a teacher," said Acielo, with a thin blanket slung over her shoulders and no shoes.

"But I think I will not complete school because of this war," she said.

The children settle down for the night at bus stops, in parks, or verandahs, wrapping themselves in dirty blankets and plastic sheets.

More than 300,000 children under age 18 are fighting in armed conflicts around the world, with almost half in central Africa, according to the International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. Most of the children are between ages 15 and 18, but some are as young as age 7.

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Precious falls from the fifth story....How did she reach the Rainbow place? U.S.A.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20030627/lo_wews/1676941

Girl Falls From Fifth-Floor Window

Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., June 27-A child fell from a fifth-story window and survived and the same thing happened at the same east side high-rise previously, NewsChannel5 reported. Police said Precious Harvey, 3, and her father took a nap Thursday in a fifth-floor apartment. Precious apparently woke up and went to the window and fell out through the screen.

"Some people have secure windows, but 90 percent of us don't," said Markita Reed, a tenant.

Precious survived the five-story fall, but two and half years ago at the same building, a toddler fell from a ninth-floor balcony and died.

Kathie Wesolowski of the Safe Kids Coalition said these kinds of accidents happen every year when the weather warms up.

Precious is in fair condition at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital

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11 year old David fights the grandmaster...can he possibly win?-U.K.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_794963.html

Child chess prodigy pushes grandmaster to a draw

Avanova

London, U.K., June 28^th -A 12-year-old British chess prodigy has caused a stir by holding the world's youngest grandmaster in history to a draw.

David Howell, 12, contemplates his next move /PA

Young chess knight David Howell, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, pitched up against teen chess king Sergei Karjakin, 13, from the Ukraine for the East meets West contest.

Using giant chess pieces, the pair raced against the clock for 30 minutes but declared the game over two minutes before the end with each in equal position, having swallowed up each other's queen, knight and bishop.

Afterwards David, who on Wednesday defeated the world championship semi-finalist Jonathan Speelman, 47, was declared to have had a slight advantage by Mike Basman, who runs UK Chess Challenge.

David was ,,, generous. "I'm quite pleased because he is such a good player and I didn't expect anything.

"I felt I had better position so that a draw was the fair result because he played very well," he said.

The game marked the opening of The Art of Chess Exhibition, featuring 19 chess sets dating from the early 20th century to the present.

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What are 2-12 year talented kids auditioning for?- Guam

http://www.kuam.com/news/story.asp?headline=6502

Search for Guam's most talented kid begins

by Zita Taitano, KUAM News
Saturday, June 28, 2003

Auditions to find Guam's most talented kid began earlier today at Planet Hollywood in Tumon starting at 10AM. Judges and Vega Production's Executive Producer Rowena Vega took their time in selecting children between the ages of 3 and 7 for the preliminaries. Next Saturday, July 5, kids ages 8 to 12 will be able to audition and those between ages of 13 to 15 can audition the following day Sunday, July 6. One winner will be chosen from each of the age groups and represent the island in NBCs Most Talented Kid contest auditions.

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Nick Cordingly and the Wizard- U.K.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/News/story.asp?datetime=27+Jun+2003+06%3A00&tbrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=NEWS&category=News&brand=EDPOnline&itemid=NOED26+Jun+2003+23%3A34%3A42%3A693

Wizard win for Potter whizz-kid

June 27-Harry Potter holds no Chamber of Secrets for one Norfolk whizz-kid who has proved he's top of the class when it comes to the world of Hogwarts.

And yesterday 11-year-old Nick Cordingly got his just rewards when he met the young magician's maker JK Rowling before a special launch spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Nick, of Park Lane, Norwich, won a competition last Friday night when he beat off 29 other Harry Potter fanatics and scored the highest marks in a nationwide exam to test the knowledge of the country's eight-14 year olds.

The competition took place in Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, where the film Harry Potter was filmed.

"It was really good and to get the chance to meet JK Rowling was a once-in-a-lifetime chance," he said. The day was a dream come true for Nick who has wanted to be a magician or wizard since a very young age.

"I've always liked magic and one of the first videos I saw was the Disney version of Sword in the Stone and loved watching Merlin," he said. "My cousin was a magician in the Magic Circle and taught me a few tricks.

"Then the first Harry Potter book was recommended to us by my mum's friend. She read the first two books to me and since then I've read them all."

And what of the new book, released last week?

"I finished it on Sunday and it lived up to expectations," he said. "I recommend it to anyone."

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Arthur Goforth becomes a CHAMP-U.S.A.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/6190512.htm

Program helps students with life, college plans

Staff Writer, The State

South Carolina, U.S.A. June 28-As 12-year-old Arthur Goforth quietly rolled an old-fashioned push-mower, he heeded the advice of Jerman Disasa.

"Make sure whatever you do, complete it," Disasa said, pointing to the shaggier spots on the lawn. "Dwell on it."

Disasa hopes his advice will translate from landscaping to the boy's life in general.

"It feels good to help other people," said Purvis Cornish, a 12-year-old student from Dent Middle School.

CHAMPS -- Communities Helping, Assisting and Motivating Promising Students -- is a life-skills program to help students reach college or technical school.

ERIK CAMPOS/THE STATE; Nyiesha Muhammad paints hangers with her CHAMPS program mentor, Marissa Suhrbier, left, at Lexington Interfaith Community Services. The young students work on community projects to help others

Students begin the program, which combines academics and community service, with summer camp after their sixth-grade year and leave the program when they graduate high school.

Peaches Bethel, 13, said she has wanted to be a lawyer since last year, when a female attorney described the characteristics that made her choose law. Bethel saw the same traits in herself.

"I like to talk a lot," Bethel said. "And if I get into trouble I can talk myself out of it."

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Why did the kids leave their families in Belarus?-Washington, U.S.A.

http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/135893

Summer in America

by Nora Doyle, King County Journal Reporter

Des Moines, WA, U.S.A., June 28-Excited shouts of ``They're here! They're here!'' rang through the gym at a Des Moines church before 80 tired but pleased Belarussian children marched through the door, looking for the family they'll spend the next five weeks with.

Gary Kissel/Journal Sasha Dziadzitskaya, 11, right, of Belarus, is greeted by her host family from Issaquah after she arrived at the Christian Faith Center in Des Moines on Friday. She will spend the summer with the McManus family, including Kelly, 16, left, and her mother, Karen.

There were hugs and tears, especially for the children and families for whom Friday marked a reunion.

For the Children, a nonprofit group based in south King County, brings an ever-increasing number of children from Belarus each summer.

``Sasha, you're so big!'' said Karen McManus of Issaquah, hugging 11-year-old Sasha Dziadzitskaya. Looking worn out after the 10-hour flight from Minsk to Seattle, Sasha smiled when McManus handed her a stuffed animal that she recognized from her two previous stays at the McManus home.

All of the Belarussian children in the program have had some degree of exposure to radiation from the 1986 nuclear reactor disaster near Chernobyl, Ukraine, and have weakened immune systems as a result.

While the children are in the United States, they receive medical treatment. Some doctor's visits are as basic as a checkup; others turn into major thyroid, eye and mouth surgeries.

The children also get to enjoy the leisurely life of an American summer vacation, often filling their days with swimming, video games and just hanging out.

``We originally thought we'd have a new kid each year,'' Tennison said. ``But, of course, you fall in love with the child you host. They become a part of your family.''

There have been cultural adjustments and exceptions to traditions to make over the years -- whether to wear a one-piece or a two-piece bathing suit, to bathe every day or just once a week, whether to accept a bottle of vodka as a housewarming gift -- but Anya and the Tennisons have worked through them. They have grown close and keep in contact year-round.

``Her mother wrote letters to us, saying not to spoil her. But it was too late,'' Tennison said.

More information about the program is available on the Web at www.forworldschildren.org

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Games Kids Play- India

http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/stories/2003062800990300.htm

Games children play

RAMYA RAMANAN, The Hindu

Hyderabad, A.P., India June 28-Scrabble, Word Magic, Jigsaw puzzles, Dumb Charades, Mechanix, diamond and pyramid cubes and brain puzzles are the educational games are popular now. Favourite Disney characters like Mickey and Donald, Popeye, Aladdin, Dennis the Menace feature in memory games for children of three years and above.

Detective games like Scotland Yard and Battleship put the brain to a test of logic, reasoning and speed. This is aimed eight-year-olds and is a family entertainer.

Siblings, Adarsh and Anjali, studying in Std VI and V are happy playing Automech and Mechanix. They have the satisfaction of constructing their own vehicles and buildings.

Riyaz, Anjuman, Anish and Shirish, all from Std. VIII, enjoy chess and mathematical puzzles. "The thrill we get out of a video game does not match those from monopoly or other games. We even have games where we pilot our own airplane and that is very exciting," says Std. VII student, Jazz Ahmed.

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