NewsBites for Kidz™ July 6 – 12 2003

Take a bite ... you’ll always be right

 

This is what kids did this week...When kids get noticed, they make the news!

 

News Photos

Kay, the 5 centimetre pencil, and a School Board

Benston, Allie, Emily and Will – kids helping kids

Christina struts on stage

Giant Preschoolers in Wrestling Match

The kids who cool off in a fountain – in America

Kids making cents!

Kids Cafes Also Feed Need For Parents

Disc-style golf is cheaper kind

Golf pros kids take their own kind of tour

Kids go to Amarnath yatra- on a risky trek

Ashtyn saves her grandfather’s life

The summer camp for global kids

How Alex and Dylan became wizards

Computer games

Archives of NewsBites for Kidz™

 

Click on each photo for full story

Headlines

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030706/168/4llkk.html - Parents help their kids paint a kilometer-long canvas with anti-war images using their fingers and hands during a 'Children's for Peace' campaign along Manila's bay on Sunday July 6, 2003

 

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http://www.msnbc.com/news/935239.asp -Misty Valentin, left, paints the finishing touch on her son Grant's face while her daughter Lauren, center, looks on Saturday, July 5, 2003, before her husband Lt. Col. Manuel Valentin returns home to Ft. Stewart, Ga. from Iraq

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030710/168/4n1hy.html

 

- U.S. President George W. Bush is welcomed by Botswana's President Festus Mogae, right, as they greet local children in a ceremony at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, Botswana, Thursday, July 10, 2003.

 

 

 

 

Mon Jul 7,10:48 PM ET

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1057702211288&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845

 

A man prepares to vote while two children ride a carrousel in Mexico City.

 

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030707/241/4lz1e.html

 

Foam waves : Children play along Tiete river where floating foam blocks emit harmful gasses, in

Pirapora de Bom Jesus, 60 Km (37 miles) north of Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AFP/Mauricio Lima)
AFP - Jul 07 10:46 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030707/170/4ly80.html

 

Indian children travel on a makeshift boat through flood waters in Baralimari, 100 kms (62 miles) east of Guwahati, in the state of Assam, July 7, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030707/170/4lwm6.html

Vietnamese children fly a kite on Sam Son beach, 200 km (120 miles) south of Hanoi, early July 7, 2003.

 

 

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030706/168/4llkl.html

 

A Filipino girl closely inspects the details on her painting on a kilometer-long canvas during an anti-war campaign called 'Children's for Peace' along Manila's bay Sunday July 6, 2003

 

 

 

 

Photos copyright of the news sources quoted with each.

 

Headlines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1057702211288

 

 

Kay, the 5 centimetre pencil, and a School Board

Board gets student's view of cuts

'Our textbooks were falling apart,' girl tells hearing

 

LOUISE BROWN

EDUCATION REPORTER, Toronto Star

 

Ontario, Canada, Jul. 9-At 12, Kay Dyson-Tam can tell you the precise measure of Ontario's school funding cuts.

 

Five centimetres.

 

That's how short a pencil in her Grade 2 class had to be before a student could get a new one because of budget cuts, she told supervisor Paul Christie of the Toronto District School Board yesterday.

 

"And we had a ruler right by the class pencil sharpener to make sure the pencil was shorter than five centimetres before getting a new one," said the student.

 

Kay had not planned to speak yesterday when she came with her mother to watch the hearings But so few people have showed up for the hearings during this second week of summer holidays — that Christie asked if anyone in the audience had anything to add before he left almost an hour early. So Kay threw up her hand, scribbled some notes on a scrap of paper and took to the microphone.

 

"In Grade 3, our textbooks were falling apart. In Grade 4, the school bus had ripped seats with gross gum on them," she said.

 

"And in Grade 4, when our teacher went on a leave for four months, they couldn't afford substitute teachers for us so they sent us in groups to other classrooms that already had more than 30 kids in them."

 

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http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/0703/10bakesale.html

 

Benston, Allie, Emily and Will – kids helping kids

Mom, kids play role in fighting child hunger

Great American Bake Sale runs through July 22

 

By DAVID SIMPSON, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

As they celebrated another summer of fun at the neighborhood pool, Janna Benston's three children also were thinking about American kids who are far less fortunate.

On the opening day of the pool at the Redfield Swim and Tennis Club, Benston and 7-year-old Allie, 6-year-old Emily and 4-year-old Will were selling baked goods. The children encouraged their friends to contribute baked goods and to shop at the sale.

 

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http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20949~1501990,00.html

 

Christina struts on stage

'Emperor' to be staged by kid actors

By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily News

 

NEWHALL, Ca., U.S.A.  July 09-- All singing and all dancing, 11-year-old Christina Barrios set the scene Tuesday as her cast mates from one of Canyon Theatre Guild's summer camps strutted and twisted on stage.

 

"I'm a drama queen," said Barrios of Saugus, who plays the narrator and a villager in a musical retelling of "The Emperor's New Clothes." "I like to act a lot and say things so they sound bigger than they are."

 

For the seventh year, the guild is holding summer camps for aspiring actors.

 

Theater is like a team sport, except that there are no teams," she said. "If the audience applauds, everybody wins."

 

For Chelsea Miller, 11, of Canyon Country, acting means a chance to be someone else, at least for a little while.

 

"It's an adventure," said Miller, an "Emperor's New Clothes" cast member. "You get to escape from your real life."

 

Cast member Jonathon Thorpe, 15 of Stevenson Ranch found it to be "grand experience."

 

"It's delightfully fun," he said, mugging before the class. "I rather be here than anywhere else. We're a family. We are one."

 

Josh Rodman, 12, plays Lysander, a character he interprets as "the love doctor."

 

"I think all of us here are attention freaks," he said. "That's why we love acting.

 

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030709/ap_on_re_eu/giant_preschoolers_4

 

Giant Preschoolers in Wrestling Match

AP

 

TBILISI, Georgia, July 7 - A wrestling match Wednesday between two of the world's largest preschoolers ended in a draw — and a party with ice cream and chocolate.

AP Photo 

In one corner was Russia's Dzhambulat Khotokhov. At 123 pounds and 3 feet 11 inches, he is the world's largest 4-year-old, according to match organizers.

In the other corner: Georgy Bibilauri, a native of the Georgian capital who stands 4 feet tall and weighs 112 pounds.

After the boys tied on the mat, they went off to celebrate Bibilauri's fifth birthday.

 

Georgian wrestling champion Levan Tediashvili refereed the match,."They are fantastic kids," Tediashvili said. "These two giants give off such positive vibes. We Russians and Georgians should follow their example."

 

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http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/local/6262098.htm

 

The kids who cool off in a fountain – in America

CITY HITS MARK FOR FIRST TIME IN '03

Portraits of a 90-degree day

 

PETER SMOLOWITZ & SCOTT DODD Staff writers, The Charlotte Observer

 

Charlotte, N.C., U.S.A., Jul. 09-Charlotteans finally got a taste Tuesday of what the rest of the region has experienced for weeks. And aside from those wanting a tan or squirting water guns, 90-degree heat was nearly as unpopular as the spring's record rain.

 

Kids romped though any fountain they were allowed in.

 

For some, though, heat can be serious. Families with no air conditioning were visiting neighbors to cool off and bracing for a sweaty night, sharing a bed next to their only fan.

 

The heat index was near 100 degrees Tuesday

 

On a couch stretching along two walls in her living room, Melissa Boulware and two of her three children squeezed next to each other, huddled in front of their lone fan. Outside, kids dribbled a basketball in their Dillehay Courts public housing complex off North Tryon Street. But Boulware's children, Kim, 13, and Isaac, 12, watched from the screen door.

 

At night, the mother and her three children move the fan upstairs, placing it in a window next to a bed they share. Three sleep lengthwise, one sleeps at the foot, and the siblings often squabble when one takes up too much space.

 

 

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http://www.modbee.com/local/story/7088931p-8021788c.html

 

Kids making cents!

Modbee.com

Authors make cents of success -- by kids, for kids

 

By JOHN HOLLAND, Modesto Bee Staff Writer

 

Modesto, Ca., U.S.A., July 8-Preschoolers could do with some financial advice, Lisa Jordan and Sheri Provost say.

 

The two women, both mothers of three, suggest that parents give a few coins to their children and explain how they are used. As the kids get older, they can learn about saving, spending wisely, starting businesses and giving money to charity.

 

Jordan, a Turlock resident, and Provost, a Fresno resident, have compiled their advice in a book, "Cash Cow Kids: The Guide to Financial Freedom at Any Age."

 

Their stories of young entrepreneurs include a 9-year-old boy who painted spots on basketballs to show other young players where to grip the balls while shooting. He has sold more than 1 million of these balls.

 

The authors also tell of a father making his 3-year-old son watch CNBC instead of cartoons because he was naughty. The boy took a liking to stock trading and, at 5, was the youngest person ever to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

 

 

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http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-likids103365912jul10,0,1707512.story?coll=ny-linews-print

 

Kids Cafes Also Feed Need For Parents

By Rhoda Amon, Staff Writer, Newsday.com

 

Long Island, U.S.A. July 10- When Jose Caceres unlocked the door to the Huntington Station Enrichment Center at 9 a.m. Tuesday, 10 children were already waiting for their breakfast snack at the Kids Cafe.

 

Ten minutes later, 6-year-old Johan Ruiz arrived, striding confidently through the familiar door while his mother, Migdalia Ruiz, watched. "I'm so happy that my son is in a safe place that's air-conditioned," she said.

 

School's out, and like thousands of other working parents, Ruiz, 32, a single mother of three, faced the summer recess with apprehension. Besides occupying her youngest son's hours when she's at work, school provides an essential ingredient - a hot lunch. Her rent, $1,864 a month, eats up most of her salary and leaves no funds for day camp in the summer and not much for lunch.

 

However, Johan is enrolled in a Boys & Girls Club after-school program at the center, which expands in summer to a full-day recreation and educational program.

 

America's Second Harvest, which estimated in 2001 that nearly 13 million children nationwide were "food insecure," meaning they were hungry or in danger of being hungry, recently developed a "Families Feeding America" program with the Dannon Co.

 

Whenever anyone clicks on the Web site www.dannon.com and then clicks on "Strike Out Hunger," during July, the company will donate $1 toward meals for the hungry.

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/0710sr-discgolf10Z8.html

 

Disc-style golf is cheaper kind

 Brian Gomez, Scottsdale Republic

 

 

SCOTTSDALE, Az., U.S.A.  Jul. 10

 

Tsutomu Fujita/Scottsdale Republic

Zach Vanzant, 13, of Phoenix throws a disc toward a "hole" during a league game with the Arizona Disc Golf Club at Vista del Camino Park in Scottsdale.

Like many Scottsdale residents, James Lavis enjoys playing golf. But Lavis doesn't pay high greens fees.

 

That's because Lavis plays disc golf, a relaxing game built upon the same principles as traditional golf.

 

Some kids, like Coronado freshman Justin Laurent, have used the game to turn profits. After retrieving about 40 discs from the bottom of a lake at Vista del Camino Park, Laurent sold them for $80 to golfers playing the course.

 

 

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http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=37808220

 

Golf pros kids take their own kind of tour

By Stacy St. Clair Daily Herald Staff Writer

 

Chicago, Il., U.S.A. July 6- As various pro golfers appear on a nearby television monitor, not one of their children stops to watch.

 

Three of the offspring are locked in a deep discussion about roller coasters. Two others are analyzing Justin Timberlake's attitude since launching a solo career.

 

An incredulous boy from California expresses concern for the deprived Chicago-area schoolchildren who can't eat lunch outside year round.

 

Not once does anyone mention the Western Open, the PGA tournament taking place at nearby Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. Their dads are competing against each other for a $4.5 million purse at the Lemont club this weekend, but the children's morning chit-chat remains amiable.

 

The professional golfers might be fierce competitors, but their children greet each other like old friends at the traveling PGA day care center.

 

"They know each other well," program director Susan Dittmer said. "They don't live in the same towns, but they see each other every time they travel."

 

For some of these kids, traveling is a way of life. Their fathers are on the road from January to November, and the families often tag along.

 

The children range in age from 9 months to 12 years. The older kids rush to take last-minute visits to the bathroom before their field trip to Safari Land in Villa Park.

 

The younger ones play Candy Land and listen to stories. A pizza party is planned for later in the afternoon and the snack table already is piled high with Cheerios, oatmeal, pretzels and fruit cups.

 

Despite the week's hectic schedule and the rigorous summer travel, the children impress the volunteers with their easy-going attitudes. The kids, at times, seem as professional as their fathers and rarely complain about the temporary surroundings.

 

"They have been just wonderful," Lowrey said. "They're very respectful, very well-mannered."

 

The PGA's child care staff relishes the compliment. After spending up to 10 hours a day with the children week after week, the staff takes a quasi-parental pride in them.

 

"They're road warriors," Dittmer said. "They're with different people every week. They know how to adapt."

 

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http://sify.com/news/othernews/fullstory.php?id=13195172

 

Kids go to Amarnath yatra- on a risky trek 

AFP, and Press Trust of India

 

Srinagar, J&K, India,10 July- Several thousand pilgrims, including 102 children,  set out on risky Himalayan tracks to reach the holy cave-shrine of Amarnath, officials said.

 

The shrine is believed to be an abode of Lord Shiva.  

 

Police have deployed some 20,000 security personnel for the pilgrimage -- roughly one soldier for every five pilgrims.

 

While this year's pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave comes at a time of relative calm in Kashmir, sporadic violence continues and security forces are taking no chances.

 

 

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http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/07/35719413.shtml?Element_ID=35719413

 

Ashtyn saves her grandfather’s life

 

Child coolly calls 911, helps save granddad's life

ALICIA ARCHULETA / THE LEAF-CHRONICLE

 

By AMY RITCHART, The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle

 

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. U.S.A., July 10— Seven-year-old Ashtyn Hilton is happy she learned how to call 911 in case of an emergency.

 

On June 27 it helped save her grandfather's life.

 

Ashtyn said she was scared, but she was able to tell the 911 operator her grandfather's name, age and address so the paramedics could help him.

 

Ashtyn was spending the night with her grandfather in his new ''four-seasons'' room, where they can drift off to sleep listening to birds chirping, James Hilton said.

 

He began having breathing problems, he said, and Ashtyn, without prompting, called 911 and spoke with the operator about getting help.

 

James Hilton, who was released from the hospital Saturday, said he looks forward to more overnights with his granddaughter when he's feeling better.

 

''She's Papa's little angel,'' he said.

 

 

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2089483,00.html

 

The summer camp for global kids

 

Camp proves it's a small world

Program helps kids from 10 nations see beyond differences

 

By Ann Depperschmidt, Rocky Mountain News

 

Denver, Co., U.S.A., July 5-Despite being more than 4,000 miles from her family, 11-year- old Isabel Uhrstrom keeps smiling.

 

Uhrstrom came to Denver from Sweden as part of the Children's International Summer Village, a month long camp that has drawn two boys and two girls each, from 10 countries.

 

"When I go away, I say why I done this and I just cry. But I feel OK now," she said in English.

 

For four weeks this month, the 40 11-year-olds will live at a Cherry Creek district school. The children are supervised by, among others, an adult leader from each nation's delegation and five 16- and 17-year-old junior counselors from around the world.

 

The counselors and children sleep on mattresses arranged in classrooms, eat in the school cafeteria, play games, trade souvenirs and dress in traditional costumes for a show in the school's common area.

 

Host families from the Denver area care for the kids when they first arrive and during a weekend halfway through the session when each child picks a friend from another country to live with.

 

"Kids get close very quickly because they know they only have a month," Brophy said. "After the second or third week, it's like, 'Oh, this isn't going to be forever.' "

 

The youngsters also will go shopping and visit the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. They were scheduled to attend Friday night's Colorado Rapids soccer game.

 

"I've never been to a soccer game," said Danny Case, of San Francisco, "so I'm pretty excited."

 

CISV was started in 1951 by Dr. Doris T. Allen, a University of Cincinnati psychologist who wanted to promote world peace after World War II.

 

"He's much more a citizen of the world and is much more aware of different cultures and issues," said Graham, who is hosting two French boys.

 

Her son, Reed, made a good friend in Germany during the trip. When she asked him afterward what he had learned, he said, "The only thing we study in school about Germany are Nazis. But he's just a boy like me."

 

That common realization - that kids are basically the same all over - helps the children see past cultural barriers.

 

"We speak English, use sign language," said Fredrik Elisson, of Sweden, who shrugged off communication problems. "You can understand a little Norwegian if you know Swedish - it's not that hard to talk."

For more information about CISV-Rocky Mountain Denver, call (303) 430-2822.

 

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http://www.canada.com/edmonton/news/story.asp?id=0405E07B-45E8-41C1-B3E1-C78A7F87AF08

 

How Alex and Dylan became wizards

 

With blood of lizard and fluid of troll, young wizards are learning to spell

 Greg Buium, The Edmonton Journal

 

EDMONTON, Canada, July 08-Nine-year-old Alex Choma, left, and Dylan James, 11, master the fine art of potion-making on Monday at Wizard School for Kids.

 

 

- Of all the potions being concocted at Edmonton's Wizard School for Kids this week, remember to never, ever try the Brain Generator.

 

"Is that pee?" screeched a group of children near Professor Sludgescot, the resident expert on mixtures that would make any witch proud.

 

"We prefer to call it urine, it's more politically correct," replied actor Scott McAdam, who plays Sludgescot.

 

For the record, that's troll's urine (water, vinegar, food colouring) mixed with lizard's blood (dishwasher soap) and abominable snowman droppings (dry ice), all of which make this fantastic brew bubble like mad.

 

On the opening morning of this new, three-day wizard academy being held at St. Justin's school, potions, herbology, fortune telling and a host of other subjects were being taught, with rigour giving way much of the time to pure entertainment.

 

"Every summer my nieces would complain, 'We're bored, we're bored,' " said Jenny Kachkar, the wizard school's founder.

 

"So we thought with the popularity of Harry Potter we could create something fun and unique."

 

 

Certainly, the kids were enjoying themselves. Some were dressed in Potter garb; others donned generic fantasy costumes. Many wore street clothes.

 

Dylan James, an 11-year-old from Calahoo, was having a ball, but he also liked the serious nature of the day school as well.

 

"The bubbles are cool," he said, referring to the Brain Generator potion. "But I'm doing science and having fun. It's great."

 

Claire Weldon, 8, and Giselle Boehm, 9, were also captivated by the concoction.

 

"It's awesome, all these bubbles," Giselle said.

 

"Yeah, and it's really gross too, because it's pee and snowman droppings," Claire added.

 

At the end of the day, a graduation ceremony is held. Everyone participating becomes a certified wizard.

 

By Wednesday, there should be 375 official wizards in Edmonton.

 

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http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-08-2003/0001978477&EDATE=

 

Computer games

New Mystery Game Teaches Children Basic Medical Knowledge, First Aid

PRNewswire

 

WASHINGTON, U.S.A. , July 8 -- Health Media Lab, Inc., today introduced a new, interactive computer game that teaches children how to identify, diagnose and treat 12 common medical conditions.  Titled D.M. Dinwiddie, Physician-in-Training(TM), the new program is available for home use or as part of an academic package that includes lesson plans to help schools meet content standards.

D.M. Dinwiddie, the 12-year-old character at the center of each adventure, lives in a virtual neighborhood filled with colorful on-screen characters.

D.M. wants to earn a Medical Arts Achievement Badge during spring break to go to camp this summer with the Super Troopers.

    As players investigate each medical mystery, they encounter science experiments, math and word puzzles, science experiments and scavenger hunts.

In order to progress toward the achievement badge, children must correctly diagnose a character with symptoms of a common medical condition, using mouse-driven dialogues, observation and research.

More information about Health Media Lab can be found at http://www.healthmedialab.com.

 

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http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/2003-07-08-kid-picks_x.htm

 

Kids become heroes in title about rescues

By Jinny Gudmundsen, Gannett News Service

 

Calling all rescue workers! A dormant volcano has erupted and trapped hikers, a powerful storm has caused fires and blackouts in a city and a massive flood has invaded another city stranding its inhabitants. In "Rescue Heroes Mission Select," kids become the heroes who fix these disasters and rescue the people.

"Rescue Heroes Mission Select" is different from most children's software because it is all about helping people in crisis. It presents natural disasters in a matter-of-fact manner and teaches children how to take charge in an emergency. By presenting the disasters in a non-threatening manner (you do not see any injuries and no one dies), children feel comfortable stepping into a leadership role. They must use logical thinking to prioritize how to help all the people in need.

Jinny's rating: 4 (out of 5). Best for age 7.

 

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