London Ready for Royal Wedding

Kids offer their own ideas of life as a princess

For most teens who live in London, the words “Royal Wedding” mean two days off from school. For the rest of the world, the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William and Miss Catherine "Kate" Middleton means hours of media coverage and an inside look at the British monarchy.

Since I was spending spring break in London this year, I decided to see what kids there think about all the pomp and ceremony, as well as the two-day holiday!

I met my friend Harlan from summer camp right outside Westminster Abbey where the couple will be wed on Friday, April 29. I spoke to a few people in the neighborhood about preparing for the wedding, which will parade through the streets of London to the Abbey.

“Most of my friends at the Highgate Wood School Arts College are looking forward to the day off school,” said Laura F., 14. “But they’re are also excited to see Kate’s wedding dress.”

The dress and the honeymoon destination are well kept secrets that have royal watchers abuzz with speculation. It is the talk of the school, she told me.

I asked a few kids on the street what it means to marry a prince. Most agreed: you need a good princess gown.

“Kate is well known for being on ‘best-dressed’ lists in magazines or on TV,” said Rosie B. from Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK). “And she’s been followed by fashionistas all over the shopping beats of London. The interesting thing about Kate is that she’s shopping in Harrods and H&M all at the same time!”

Harrods and H&M are well-known department stores in London. Unlike common expectations of royal behavior, Kate, who is not of royal blood, shops off the rack just like you and I! Her status as a commoner-turned-princess is what many of England’s everyday citizens like best about this young woman who could be Queen.

All the teens I spoke with agree that Kate’s wedding gown is sure to be stunning. They also seemed to know all the inside scoop about it—everything that is except what it looks like.

“The royal staff even has a duplicate dress ready in the case of emergency," Laura said. "That’s pretty cool.”

Everywhere you look, you see signs of wedding fever. In nearly every store, you can buy souvenirs with pictures of Kate and Wills, from tea cups to tea bags, coffee mugs, and flags.

After her wedding, Kate’s simple life of hanging out with friends and working in her family business is likely to get pretty complicated. For one thing, she’ll probably have a new title—Princess Catherine. And people will bow and curtsy when they meet her. She won’t see her husband very much either—at least at first. He serves full time in the Royal Air Force.

As a princess she will need to pick some favorite charities and spend a lot of time helping them with fundraising. Kids in London have some pretty specific ideas about what she should do in that area.

“She’ll be bombarded with charities wanting her endorsement,” says Rose B., 17, of Cambridgeshire. “I hope she picks something important for kids like helping children with autism or cancer. Many of my friends also want her to pick specific charities like preventing animal abuse or helping teenagers with depression.”

—Viveca S. Riley

PHOTOS: (TOP) A young girl waits to see Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton arrive at the Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (DACA), in Darwen, northern England April 11, 2011. Prince William and his fiancee were there to officially open the Acadamy. (PHOTO : Phil Noble/Reuters)

(BOTTOM) A woman holds a tea bag with the portrait of Kate Middleton.Britain's Prince William is on the tea bag in the background. (PHOTO: MARCUS BRANDT/AFP/Getty Images/NewsCo)

Zipping Through the Rain Forest

From sick to fear to a final laugh (once on the ground!)

On a recent trip to Costa Rica to visit family, I experienced the sensation of zipping through a rain forest high up in the trees on a zip line.

To ride a zip line, you have to first get into a harness. You also have to wear a helmet. Next, they put you on a blue truck and drive you up to the top of a mountain. It is a bumpy ride.

After you get to the top, a guide tells you all the instructions you will need to know to ride the zip line safely. That’s where I began to feel sick and regret I even agreed to come here.

"Are you ready?” asked the guide.

"No," I replied.

They hooked me up to the cable and off I went!

Surprisingly, I didn't scream. At least not the first time. The second time was different.

On my second zip through the trees, I started spinning around in circles. My helmet scraped against the wire making a bone-chilling sound. That’s when the screaming started.

When I finally reached the destination tree, I asked the guide how many more zip lines I had to go on. When he replied NINE, I looked at him like he was crazy! Now, I really started to feel sick!

One other scary time was when we came to a tree and it started swaying and creaking. I desperately hung on to my mom for support.

Then, someone spotted two Scarlet Macaws, which are birds that live in Costa Rica. We all stopped and stared, forgetting about the zip line. Soon, the swaying and creaking snapped me back to reality.

  When I finally got on the zip line to get to the last tree, I had never been so happy to leave one place in my entire life! After we got to the bottom again we took off our helmets and harnesses and looked at the pictures a photographer took while we were zipping.

Everyone’s pictures looked fine except for mine. Mine looked like I was about to cry. That’s when we all had a good laugh—including me!

—Abby Gerber

PHOTOS: (TOP) Abby takes off! (BOTTOM) Kid Reporter Abby Gerber in between zips! (Photos Courtesy Abby Gerber)

Oil Spill? Pass the Mayo!

My science fair project on the Gulf Oil Spill

After covering the Gulf Oil Spill last summer for Scholastic News, I decided to base my 4th grade science project on what I learned.

In Louisiana, the Coast Guard took me and my editor out on a boat to see where the oil had stained the grasses in the wetlands. I also visited the aquarium in New Orleans where I saw turtles that had been cleaned and would be soon be returned to the ocean. I learned that mayonnaise was used to clean the oil off both the grass and turtles.

To clean a turtle that has been covered in oil, the people at the aquarium scrubbed the turtles down with mayo. They cleaned their mouths with mayo on cotton swabs. They also feed mayonnaise to them. Eating mayonnaise cleaned the oil out of the animals’ digestive systems.

In the wetlands, the mayo would stick on the grass and absorb the oil. Pounding waves against the grasses then washed both the mayo and the oil off the grasses and out to sea.

My science fair question was: What well known hamburger condiment could be used to clean up an oil spill? My hypothesis was that mayonnaise would clean oil off the grass the best.

I started out with three identical pots of pet grass similar to the marshes in LA. I covered each with 30-weight automobile oil. Using ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, I attempted to clean the oil from the three different pots of plants.

I found that the ketchup and mustard dripped off the grass, leaving the oil behind. The mayonnaise stuck to the grass and absorbed the oil.

When I rinsed the grasses in a clean bucket of water, the ketchup came off but not the oil. Same thing with the mustard. However, both the mayonnaise and the oil came off the grass with plain water. My hypothesis was correct! Best part of the whole thing? I got an A!

Now, I wonder what it is about mayonnaise that makes it so oil absorbent? Mayo is made of vegetable oil and egg. Is it the vegetable oil, or the egg? Or do both have to be mixed together a certain way? Hmmmm. Maybe, for next year's science fair project......

—Trinity Vogel

PHOTOS: (TOP) Kid Reporter Trinity Vogel works on her Gulf Oil Spill science fair project. (BOTTOM) Three containers of grasses next to (from left) mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. (Photos Courtesy Trinity Vogel)

How to Start Your Own Blog

Be interesting, brief, and meet your deadlines!

Blogs may as well be the new mini-television network sites of tomorrow. I write a blog, which is a frequently updated online journal. Blogs can be hosted by a web service like Blogspot or Wordpress, to name two of the more popular. You can also host your own blog, but you will need your own website.

Blogs give information to people around the world, and are very easy to do. If you are looking to start your own blog, there are a few things you need to know.

First, you need to pick a topic and direct your writings around that topic. You could pick politics, or current events, fashion, even animals or your favorite band. Anything you feel passionately about.

Next, know your audience and write to them. Know who will be reading your blog and write for that demographic. If your audience is too broad or too vague, or you think you want to write for the whole world, you will never be able to meet your goal of building readership. If you write for everyone, no one will read you.

You also have set a deadline for your updates and stick to it! That will encourage poeple to keep up their interest and follow you on a regular basis. Readers will know when you post and come back to check for new information. If it's not there, they won't return.

Professional bloggers say writing three times a week is best. They suggest writing fewer than 300 words per piece and posting on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

When writing a blog the goal usually is to reach as many people as possible. The best way to achieve that goal is to tell your friends and family about your blog, and tell them to tell their friends. If you’re interesting, you will grow exponentially. But, be patient. One expert blogger I know worked more than two years for his blog on marketing to catch on. Today, he has 20,000 regular readers per post.

I have been writing a blog for eight months. It is called We R Tomorrow. I write for young people. My goal is to educate my generation on current events. My blog can be found at http://wertomorrow.wordpress.com/.

Blogs are an easy way to teach or to motivate or to inform. You can voice your opinion in a blog, or just tell the facts. You can write about anything you want, and write however often you want. Blogs are fun and easy to do. Start one today!

—Elena Hildebrandt

PHOTO: Scholastic News Kid Reporter hard at work on her blog! (Photo Courtesy Elena Hildebrandt)

Cultural Arts Week

“Welcome to Puerto Rico,” my teacher greeted me as I walk through the doors of the Puerto Rican Market. This is an event that has been planned since last year, and is now in progress. As excited students buzz around Puerto Rico, I am pleased with the sights I am seeing. 

Every year, my school puts on a program called Cultural Arts Week. During this thrilling week in April, we learn about a different country. Over the years we have explored China, Kenya, Bolivia, Cambodia, and many more. This year, we had the opportunity of learning about Puerto Rico. Though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, I was surprised on how different it is from the United States. 

“It is very important for the students to be exposed to other societies so when they grow up, they will have a little background to different cultures”, said Pomfret Community School Principle Mrs. Dion.

Through the course of the week, students learn about the country's way of life inside and out. They taste the food they eat, play the games they play, and learn a lot about their history. One food students founded they liked was plantains, a very delicious snack eaten in Puerto Rico.

“Before Cultural Arts week, I never even knew about Plantain, and now it’s my favorite food!” Isabelle D., a seventh grader at Pomfret Community School, stated.

Every day during Cultural Arts week is an adventure. During classes we have docents, volunteered parents, teachers, or even college professors. During their lessons students experience the life of Puerto Rican kids.

“I never knew we had so much in common with people from different countries”, fourth grader Sam A. declared.

But a very special part of Cultural Arts Week is the market.

“Ever since Kindergarten, the marketplace has always been my favorite”, eighth grader Natalie B. asserted.

The market place is a replica of what a market place in Puerto Rico may look like. In the marketplace, you are able to taste delectable food, make colorful crafts, and enter fun prizes quizzing you on what you learned during the week. 

All in all, Cultural Arts Week is a great way for kids to relate to others in different countries.

“Though Cultural Arts Week is only a week long, it’s an experience no one ever forgets."

—Kid Reporter Wanjiku Gatheru

Photo: One of the many objects used to teach students about Puerto Rico during Cultural Arts Week. (Courtesy Wanjiku Gatheru) 

Let's Dirty it Up!

It was the same garden, the same red and white checked tablecloth, and the same hostess — none other than First Lady Michelle Obama — but this time something was different. Instead of the rowdy crowd of kids miraculously unveiling the colorful arrays of different veggies and herbs being pulled out of the ground and planted into the kids’ stomach, this time there were new herbs and veggies for a new batch of fourth and fifth graders from Bancroft and Tubman to plant into the ground. The kids and staff together planted the White House garden. 

I was very lucky to cover this event with the First Lady. I had been here in the fall to watch the amazing event of the harvesting festival. It was pretty cool seeing where all the plants start out and what they look like when they are little and when they grow into ripe vegetables. 

This time, though, I was doubly excited for this event, because I was going to talk to the First Lady herself! This was the closest opportunity I’d probably get to ever get the inside scoop on this event. I was boiling over with excitement. There were three other kid reporters there from different publications, and they were all going to interview the First Lady with me. 

After the kids completed the planting and took a group photo, it was time to have the interview with the First Lady. I clutched my questions for her excitedly. Our guide, Katie, guided us to the Children’s Garden, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson in 1968. It looked like a little park and it had footprints and handprints embedded into the ground: the footprints of the former President’s children and grandchildren. I learned that it was not open to public and was probably the only time we could see it. It was peaceful and the perfect place to be when you want to have some space. It was like a natural children’s playground.

Kid reporters from Scholastic, Time for Kids, Ranger Rick, and National Geographic Kids waited excitedly for the First Lady to come. The First Lady finally walked in and each of the kid reporters got to shake her hand and introduce himself or herself. When we sat down it was no time at all when the youngest kid reporter, Helen, started to ask her questions about the bees and the honey and what they do with them. I learned that the honey from the beehive would probably be used as gifts or even in Mrs. Obama’s tea.

Mrs. Obama answered my questions, which were about Let’s Move and obstacles to eating healthy. The First Lady told the group that lots of children face difficulties or obstacles to eating healthy because they maybe just don’t like vegetables. She also said that her advice to her kids would be to try everything because your taste buds won’t mature if you don’t try a variety of different foods. Some other questions arose to how we should eat our meals and how we should have more meals at home, and how we should have a balanced diet. 

During the interview, Michelle Obama stressed the importance of passing on information about eating right and doing the right things. “You’re not here just to plant good vegetables; you’re here to pass the information on.”

Check out my video report and interview with Michelle Obama from the Let's Move garden planting!

—Kid Reporter Alexandra Zhang 

Final Final 4 Tonight!

Behind the scenes at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

A lot of preparations go into making the Final Four NCAA championships seem flawless. At Media Day on the Friday before Saturday’s semi-finals, I got a behind-the-scenes look at just what it takes to host a major sporting event.

Reliant Stadium, which hosted the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo two weeks ago, had been transformed into a basketball arena. The floor had been changed from a rodeo arena good for calf scrambling and barrel racing to the hardwood needed for slam dunks and three point plays.

Because of the massive venue, the court set up is different than for standard games. The NCAA games are being played on a platform raised 30 inches off the ground.

"In most games, the court sits flat,” said David Worlock from the NCAA. “By elevating the floor, it improves the sight lines and allows more seating for the fans." Worlock is expecting a record-breaking crowd of more than 76,000 people for each game.

Not all the work of preparing for the tournament is done by employees. The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council help "Seat Up" Reliant Stadium as part of their upcoming centennial celebration. Girl Scouts helped place more than 70,000 seat cushions on stadium seats.

“It was a lot of work, but I liked the fact that I could help set up an event like the Final Four,” said Ambassador Girl Scout Charlotte Campbell.

On Thursday night alone, Girl Scouts placed 14,447 seat cushions in under three hours. That translates to over 50 seat cushions per hour per girl!

"It was fun working with girls from other troops and seeing all the different preparations for the big game,” said Girl Scout Sharmistha Maity. “I also really appreciated the organization for the event as everything went very smoothly.”

Final Four Friday gave me an insiders view as I personally met the coaches and players. I watched team practices and the All Star game from courtside. Attending the AP player and Coach of the Year press conferences was quite exciting.

BYU senior Jimmer Fredette earned the 2010-2011 Oscar Robertson Trophy. I asked him how he was able to balance work and school.

"While on the road, they bring an academic advisor and we have study hall,” he said. “We may have one or two hours a day while we are on the road to study."

His had some good advice for aspiring student athletes.

“Learn to manage your time,” he said.

Notre Dame's Coach Mike Brey, this year's Coach of the Year, shared his insight into a winning formula.

"Look for players who play with a passion and want a competitive academic atmosphere,” he said. “When you look for students with a great attitude, great work ethic, and great teammates, you build a great team."

The cutest mascot is definitely Blue II, Butler's English bulldog mascot who made the trip to Houston with the team. He traveled on a chartered Southwest airlines flight. He even had a front-row seat, though he mostly spent his time sitting on the floor. Once inside the stadium, though, he was a definite media magnet.

In the next few days, I will be covering other events that Final Four brings to town, such as Bracket Town and Final Four Dribble—almost as exciting as the big games themselves!

Don’t forget: tonight is the final championship game between the Butler Bulldogs (also known as the Under Dawgs!) and the Connecticut Huskies.

—Erin Sheena

PHOTOS: (Top)Erin's Girl Scout troop, including Charlotte Campbell (dark shirt) and Sharmista Maity (white shirt). (BOTTOM). Kid Reporter Erin Sheena with the Butler Bulldog mascot Blue II. (Photos Courtesy Erin Sheena)