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(Describer) In computer animation, different news scenes in rectangles move fast around a turning globe.

(Describer) In front of a blue background with a triangle and circle, title: Teen Kids News. A boy sits at a desk with monitors behind him.

Hi, I'm Reed and you're watching "Teen Kids News." Let's start with our top story.

(Describer) The Teen Kids News logo is on curved screens that form a turning cylinder. Title: Top Story.

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Throughout the year, we often bring you stories about contests sponsored by the National Road Safety Foundation. Teens across the country are invited to send in ideas for creating PSAs about traffic safety. This time the NRSF decided to do something different. They invited an entire school to come up with a PSA.

(Describer) The school appears.

(reporter) And that school is Weaver High in Hartford, Connecticut. The NRSF sent its video team to explain what's needed.

(Describer) Marilou Yacoub:

For more than 60 years, the NRSF has made it their mission to make our roads and highways safer, especially for young drivers. One way that they do that is by supporting videos that promote good driver behavior. For example, avoiding speeding, driving impaired, driving drowsy, driving aggressively. But the topic the NRSF wanted these students to focus on is when drivers aren't focusing.

(Marilou) The biggest issue of all is driving distracted.

(Alexandra) In fact, six out of ten crashes involving teen drivers are caused by distracted driving. One of the ways the NRSF intends to spread the warning that distracted driving is dangerous is by creating a PSA.

(Alan) The NRSF has chosen your school to help us produce a PSA.

(Describer) Alan J. Weiss:

And a PSA is basically a public-service announcement. It's a message for good.

(Marilou) And you'll see PSAs on TV, online, even in movie theaters sometimes, and they typically run either 30 seconds or a minute long.

(Alexandra) Marilou and Alan gave the audience a behind-the-scenes peek at how a PSA is made. Three, two, one, action.

[engine whirring]

(Describer) On a screen in the school auditorium, they play a video with clips of finished PSAs and crews working to produce them.

[people chattering]

Action!

(Alexandra) Your school is invited to participate in an exciting and educational experience, creating a public-service announcement on driving safety. The National Road Safety Foundation will provide all the tools for video production, including TV experts to guide every step of the process. It's a unique opportunity open to all students who would like to get a taste of professional video production while helping to create a message about safe driving that could save lives.

(Alan) What we're looking for is for you guys to come up with a concept, whatever it is, a rap song, whatever. And if you want to come up with ten concepts or twenty concepts, that's fine, but the NRSF will pick a concept and then we will come back, and we will then execute it with you guys. We'll meet the student who submitted the best concept when "Teen Kids News" continues. Be right back!

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(Describer) Spinning with the triangle and circle, title: Teen Kids News. On a video call:

Caroline, congratulations. A nice idea. We really liked it. Thank you. Well, thank you. Thank you.

(Alexandra) 17-year-old Caroline Claudio is in for an exciting experience. The NRSF chose her concept for a PSA on distracted driving. Over the coming weeks, the high school junior, along with her advisor, Miss Colon, will be working closely with TV professionals to create the PSA. So there's a lot of steps involved, and you're gonna learn about those as we step through it.

[speaking Spanish]

(Describer) Miss Colon translates for Caroline.

(Alexandra) Because Caroline only recently moved to Connecticut from Puerto Rico, she needed a little help with English. Caroline's concept was to create the PSA in the style of a fairytale. So the first thing we're gonna do today is we took your idea, the idea that you wrote, and we turned it into a script.

[Colon speaking Spanish]

(Marilou) It's gonna start on the cover of a book with the title, "Tales of Driving," a book of fairytales. After walking Caroline through the script, the producer explained that the next step was to hold auditions at the school. Hi, I'm Marilou.

(Describer) A girl enters a room.

-What's your name? -Janelle. Janelle. Okay.

(Alexandra) Students arrived for auditions 15 minutes apart. Alright, so the way we're gonna do this is... Caroline, whose idea this PSA is, will be putting a microphone on you.

(Alexandra) Not only was Caroline learning what it's like to work behind the camera, she was also going to get the chance to be in front of the camera, sitting in one of the chairs set up to represent seats in a car. In addition to the role of narrator...

(Marilou) Like a story, you're telling a story.

(Alexandra) ...some students auditioned to be the driver, while others tried out to be one of the friends. And because the PSA was going to be produced in both English and Spanish, two sets of actors were needed. I'm gonna give you a copy of the script. And we're gonna have you sit in friend number two position, which is the back seat of the car, behind the passenger. Ready?

(Describer) Janelly sits. Marilou starts recording.

All right, so here we go. Once upon a time, there was a young driver named Lauren. Hey, Lauren. Hey, Lauren. Hey, Lauren. Hola, Lauren. As she was driving, she was fixing her hair... Yeah. Not today.

[Caroline speaking Spanish]

(Marilou) ...changing the radio stations... This song's not my vibe. Can you change it?

[actress speaking Spanish]

(Marilou) ...and adjusting the AC. Huh. Now it's too cold.

[actor speaking Spanish]

(Alexandra) Some acting didn't require lines, just convincing actions.

(Marilou) Lauren was paying attention to everything except driving. Look out, there's a tree!

(Describer) A girl jerks back.

(Alexandra) It's not easy pretending to crash. Look out. There's a tree.

(Describer) Caroline:

[Caroline speaking Spanish]

Look out, there's a tree!

[speaking Spanish, laughing]

(Describer) Another girl laughs.

Fun! With casting completed, the production team was ready to move on to filming the PSA. I'll have that part of the story next week. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Alexandra.

(Describer) Reese:

For thousands of years, people have searched for the Fountain of Youth. Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon famously and Feud trudged through the wilds of Florida, searching for the magical waters that reverses aging. To this day, the city of St. Augustine, Florida, attracts tourists fascinated by the legend of eternal youth, which, of course, is impossible, or is it? According to Albert Einstein, the faster a body moves, the slower time moves.

(Describer) In an old-fashioned cartoon, a rocket takes off.

[rocket roaring]

Let's say an astronaut was able to fly at almost a speed of light for five years. Returning to Earth, the astronaut would be about 30 years younger than those who had stayed behind. Guess Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth isn't in Florida someplace, but in outer space, assuming, of course, one could fly at close to 186,000 miles a second. Not likely. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Reese.

(Describer) Reed:

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We've got lots more coming up on "Teen Kids News," so stick around and be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss out on Teen Kids News. We'll be right back. There's no question that America is a leader in medical innovation. That's why so many people from other countries come here for treatment. One of those was a teen hoping for a cure for her life-threatening illness. As you're about to see, the cure was successful, and now she's paying it forward for others in her country who need help.

(Describer) A girl walks down a hall.

(reporter) Andrea is doing something she feared she might never be able to do: walk normally. Growing up in Ecuador on the northwestern edge of South America, Andrea's knee began to hurt a lot. So she went to get it checked out. And that's how I found out that I had cancer.

(reporter) Andrea had what's called osteosarcoma. It's a rare form of bone cancer that most often affects young kids and teens. Unfortunately, the doctors in Ecuador just weren't equipped to treat Andrea's osteosarcoma, but the doctors at Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center were. Desperate for treatment, Andrea and her family flew to Ohio to the University's James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, fondly referred to as The James. Push out.

(Ava) Using the latest technology, Dr. Mayerson's surgical team was able to successfully remove the cancer. Once they heal from that and recover and to see them going back to normal life and to doing the things they enjoy-- spending time with her family-- that's enormous job satisfaction.

(Ava) While Andrea was at The James, she got a phone call that would set her on a mission to help others in her home country. There was a 12-year-old boy in Ecuador who called me, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. He called me, I was still going through treatment and he wasn't lucky enough to be able to come to a place like The James. So that's when I said like, "Okay, maybe we could have Dr. Mayerson review the treatment plan that they gave him there just to make sure that they're doing the right thing.

(Dr. Mayerson) Hold it up.

(Ava) Working with medical specialists at The James, Andrea and her family helped launch a program for doctors in Ecuador to learn about the latest treatments for osteosarcoma. For those patients who don't have the ability to come here to America, they hopefully will get top-notch care in Ecuador as well. Tests show that Andrea is cancer-free, and thanks to her and the doctors at The James, kids in Ecuador will have a better chance fighting osteosarcoma. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Ava.

(Describer) Reed:

We can all use some tips on how to do our best in school. So check out our "Make the Grade" Report.

(Describer) Christin:

Do you know one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to being a good leader? Just telling people what to do, being arrogant about it. It's like they forget how to be a follower. They just completely absorb leadership and they get detached almost, and it makes them less effective. Actually, it's that they don't delegate. Chances are that the reason you were chosen captain of your team is because you're one of the best players, or that you were elected class president because you had a talent for getting things done. But here's the challenge-- just because you can probably do the task better than anyone else, doesn't mean you should. There are a number of reasons why. First of all, if you get bogged down handling all the individual tasks, you probably won't have time to handle the things you're supposed to handle as the leader. Another reason to delegate is to make sure others in the group feel they have something to contribute. When people feel left out, they tend to drop out. Delegating is also a great way to pass on knowledge to others so that they can become leaders themselves. After all, a good leader makes sure to leave the organization in good hands. One of history's greatest military leaders was Alexander the Great. He created the largest empire of his day. Because he didn't plan on who would replace him as leader, his empire fell apart when he died. So you might say, when it came to preparing the next leaders, Alexander the Great wasn't so great. I'm Christin here to help you "Make the Grade."

(Describer) A viewer email reads, "My boys Dalton and Josh learned so much from today's episode! Sincerely, Rejul." Addresses appear for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Reed:

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Still ahead, more "Teen Kids News" right after this short break. This season, we're putting a spotlight on people who didn't let failure get in their way.

(Describer) Black and white cards in a flipboard display spell out the words "If At First." Another flipboard spells out "You Don't". Another flipboard spells out the full title: If At First You Don't Succeed.

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(Describer) Emily:

Many successful actors struggled in the early days of their careers, but movie superstar Sylvester Stallone had a particularly rocky start. Acting jobs were scarce and paychecks, even scarcer. Stallone says at one point he couldn't afford to buy food, so he sold his last and most prized possession, his dog Butkus. The struggling and heartbroken actor got $40. A short time later, Stallone made another sale. This time, it was the script for the movie "Rocky." He got $250,000 for the script, then another 35,000 for playing the lead role in the movie. Fortunately, Stallone's contract also gave him a royalty percentage of the profits from the runaway blockbuster. That brought him an additional $2.5 million. So what do you think was one of the first things he spent that money on? Yep. He went back to the guy he had sold Butkus to. As Stallone later recounted, "The owner knew I was desperate "and he charged me $15,000. He was worth every penny!" Clearly, the dog was this man's best friend. Besides "Rocky," Stallone made "Rambo" a cultural icon. One of the themes in the "Rambo" movies is "No matter the odds, don't give up." A motto, Stallone says, is not expendable.

(Describer) Quote:

"You must fail 100 times to succeed once." Hopefully, you'll have a better batting average than one in a hundred. But we get Stallone's point. With "If At First You Don't Succeed," I'm Emily for "Teen Kids News."

(Describer) Different items and terms move up and down against a striped background. A cartoon man holds a pointer to a screen with the title: Misleading Monikers. In parentheses, Names That Aren't What You Think.

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(Describer) Katarina:

Can you name this instrument?

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It's the English horn, except it wasn't invented in England, but in Poland. And it isn't a horn. It's a member of the woodwind family, closely related to the oboe. The name English horn actually comes from Germany where it was called the "angelic horn." In German, the word for angelic is "engellisches." And so no surprise, engellisches is also the German word for English. So the horn invented by Poles, named by Germans, and played in orchestras all around the world came to be known as the English horn. Even though, as I said, it's not even a horn. Go figure. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Katarina.

(Describer) Brendan:

Alaska is truly huge. It's not just bigger than Texas, it's bigger than Texas and America's next two largest states, California and Montana, combined. And to think when our Secretary of State William Seward bought it from Russia in 1867 for just $7.2 million, the purchase was ridiculed as "Seward's Folly." Today, Alaska's home to some of America's most valuable natural resources. Folly indeed.

(Describer) Reed:

We love hearing from our viewers. Send us a short note about the show to info@teenkidsnews.com. And if you want, include a photo, then keep watching as we may run your message on the show. All we need is your first name and your town or city. There's still more to come on today's show. "Teen Kids News" will be right back. On our menu today is an easy recipe that you can make to impress your family and friends. Take a look.

(Describer) Nicole:

Sometimes you're in the mood for a cool, refreshing snack. How about a berry creamsicle? They're a great pick-me-up for when you're studying. Here's what you're gonna need. First, you're gonna need a popsicle mold. This one holds four. Some yogurt, any flavor you'd like. I'm using vanilla Greek yogurt. Fresh blueberries and strawberries. First, with permission, you are gonna cut up some strawberries. Just cut the stem off, just like that. And then cut them in slices. And just throw them right into a bowl. Then we're gonna take a fork and mash them up until they're just broken up.

(Describer) She mashes slices from 12 strawberries. She uses the bottom of the fork.

Just like that. Perfect. Take your molds, pull all of these out.

(Describer) She takes off the handles from the top.

And with the spoon, you're going to layer in your yogurt right at the bottom.

(Describer) She uses Greek-style yogurt.

Just like that. And only put a little bit in so you can just layer all the different ingredients in there.

(Describer) She spoons from a bowl of one cup of yogurt.

Okay, after you do the first layer, make sure you press down like that so they all flatten out. Then add some strawberries. Right after that.

(Describer) She puts a tablespoon of mashed strawberries into each mold.

Perfect. And you can use any berries you want to. You can use raspberries, blackberries, blueberries. Okay. Give that a press.

(Describer) She taps the bottoms onto the work surface.

And then I do two blueberries per pop.

(Describer) She drops them in.

Two. Okay. And then we'll start over again with more yogurt.

(Describer) She puts a big spoonful of it into each mold.

Perfect. And then we'll press down again.

(Describer) When she taps the molds, everything goes down, so there's room to add more.

Okay. Some more blueberries.

(Describer) She drops them in.

And then we'll finish off with some more yogurt on top.

(Describer) She covers the berries with yogurt, filling the rest of the molds.

Okay. Good. We'll give it one last shake. And with the knife, you're gonna smooth off the top just so they all get incorporated. And then put your sticks right back in.

(Describer) The handles have sticks that go into the mixtures.

Freeze these overnight or until they're set. So you put the last one in and you put these in their freezer for about four to five hours until they set or overnight.

(Describer) Later...

Okay, so I have a bowl of warm water and my ice pops that have been in the freezer overnight. So I'm just gonna put them right in the warm water so that it kind of pulls away from the mold. Just give 'em a little twist so they might come out a little easier.

(Describer) She twists the handles a little, then takes the molds out of the water and shakes them up and down. She pulls out a pop. She tastes it.

Okay. Let's give it a try. Mm. That's so delicious. You won't have to worry about finishing it before it melts.

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(Describer) Reed:

Well, that certainly looks good. And that wraps up today's show. But we'll see you next week for more "Teen Kids News." Bye for now.

(Describer) Titles: Producer: Marilou Yacoub Director/Writer: Alan J. Weiss Camera and Editing: Rick Lavon, David Lauterbach Executive Producer: Alan J. Weiss Copyright Alan Weiss Productions Inc. 2024 Contact: info at TeenKidsNews dot com Alan Weiss Productions Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

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Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

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