Documentary portrays “the real King”

The Martin Luther King documentary King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis presents the civil rights leader almost entirely in highly public moments, like his speeches.

But there are a few more private moments. One is an interview Dr. King gives to a few journalists crowded into a small airplane. It’s one of the more personal and intimate moments we see in the movie. But Dr. King still sounds just like the public figure we’ve all come to know.

After I attended the screening of King at the Church of the Intercession in Harlem, I wanted to learn more about Dr. King. I especially wanted to know how well the movie captures who Dr. King was.

So I contacted Professor David Garrow. Professor Garrow wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of King, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“[Dr. King] was always very conscious of being formal, and proper, and dignified,” Professor Garrow told me. “Part of it is going all the way back to Montgomery, of being super aware that he is being seen as a prime representative of all black people.”

Today, Dr. King still inspires people – in America and around the world. Our view of Dr. King – and the civil rights movement he led – is based almost entirely on the types of words and images we see in King: A Filmed Record.

And after watching the movie, we’re left wondering what Dr. King might be discussing today had he not been assassinated in 1968.

“In the last two years of his life, King most often times is speaking in a much more challenging, critical voice about the degree of change that is needed in American society and American behavior around the world,” Garrow says. “Anyone seeing this film would be very powerfully surprised that the real Martin Luther King is not simply the ‘I have a Dream” optimism of 1963.”

“This film is the real King,” he adds.

Check out my story about the New York screening of King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

—Kid Reporter Fred Hechinger

Why do you think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is still important today? Has he inspired you? How? Let us know in the comments section below!

Photo: A still from the movie King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis (© Kino Lorber)

My day at the White House

The day after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) organized the State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — or SoSTEM — event at the Eisenhower Executive Building. My editor Dante arranged for me to attend it.

When I got to the meeting room at 9:50 a.m., I went to interview Bobak Ferdowsi, better known as the Mohawk Guy, who is the flight director for the Mars Curiosity Program. Bobak was very nice and funny. He was wearing his “normal” Mohawk, except it was dyed blue and red. One side of his head said MARS.

The interview went quite smoothly. At one point during the interview we were briefly joined by Dr. John Holdren, the assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of OSTP. Dr. Holdren chatted with the Mohawk Guy about the State of the Union speech the night before.

At 10 a.m., the SoSTEM meeting began. The panel for the meeting included the Mohawk Guy, Lori Garver (deputy director of NASA), Todd Park (US chief technology officer), high school student Jake Andraka (2012 Intel Science Competition winner), and iTriage CEO Peter Hudson. Dr. Holdren was the moderator and started the meeting. In the audience, there were about 50 students from nearby middle and high schools. Some students asked about the Mars program and NASA, and others asked about STEM.

It was a really great meeting, and it was great to go to the White House — especially on one of my first assignments!

Check out my report on the SoSTEM event and my interview with Mohawk Guy on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

How important do you think a good STEM education is? Let us know in the comments below!

—Kid Reporter Emily Shao

Photo: Kid Reporter Emily Shao talks with Dr. John Holdren (center) before the SoSTEM event on Wednesday, February 13, 2013. (Courtesy Emily Shao)

Happy New Year!

People all over the world are ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year. At the International School of Indiana in Indianapolis, students celebrated the Year of the Snake with a fun-packed assembly.

Students from 6th grade up to high school seniors who are learning Mandarin (the official language of China) educated the rest of the school about Chinese cultures and other rituals. This was taught through song, dance, instruments, and videos. Some students even performed Tai Chi!

Mandarin teachers Janet Huang and Sophie Li made it their duty to make sure that every person in attendance knew how to say a phrase in Chinese. The most popular was: 春节快乐！(chūn jié kuài lè), which means Happy New Year.

The assembly was important for various reasons, one being that the mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard, was in attendance. After the assembly, Mayor Ballard expressed the importance of learning about new cultures.

“I think it is tremendous. We try to celebrate the Chinese culture within the city, and now that we have a sister city relationship with Hangzhou which is on the East Coast of China, we do Chinese festivals now in the city so we can celebrate it along with them,” said Mayor Ballard. “It is nice to see the celebration.”

—Kid Reporter 易欣雷 (Grace Ybarra)

How does your community celebrate Chinese New Year? Let us know in the comments below!

And for more on Chinese New Year, check out the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Chinese New Year Special Report!

Photo: A dancer performs during a Chinese New Year celebration at the International School of Indiana. (Courtesy Grace Ybarra)

Long Island Buried

Dangerous conditions and historic snow snarl communities

The winter storm that hit the northeast over the weekend had a tremendous effect on Long Island, New York, especially Suffolk County and Town of Brookhaven.

People joked about stocking up on supplies before the storm, but it became no joke when roads became unusable and residents could not leave their homes for days.  Schools were closed early Friday and eventually Monday and Tuesday since streets were still not plowed.

"The storm hit at a time commuters were making their way back from the city," said Suffolk county Executive Steven Bellone. "The snow just swallowed them up. It came down so hard and so fast." 

Read the rest of the story on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

—Kid Reporter William Russell

Photo: Snow buries Kid Reporter William Russell's bloc in Sound Beach. This was the scene all over Brookhaven Town in Long Island, New York, after the winter storm. (William Russell)
 

Snow covers Connecticut

On Thursday evening, weather reports predicted a little more than seven inches of snow would fall in Westport, Connecticut. Those weathermen were in for a shock.

Storm Nemo dropped a foot and a half of snow on Westport, a coastal Connecticut town.

Schools were open Friday morning, but suddenly the skies opened up.  Thick snow rained down on the town.  Students arrived at school through the treacherous conditions, but were soon notified that there would be early dismissal for the Westport Public Schools.

After school let out, kids took to the biggest hills they could find armed with their sleds.  Everyone enjoyed shooting down the slopes with their friends. Friday night brought heavy winds, but Saturday morning the children were back at the town’s best sledding spots.

The 18 inches of snow were the most in two years.  Most kids said that they spent the weekend sipping hot chocolate, skiing, sledding, and enjoying the snow.

—Kid Reporter Cooper Boardman

Blizzard dumps massive amount of snow on Long Island

A place still recovering from Hurricane Sandy gets hit with nearly three feet of snow

The Town of Brookhaven was hit the hardest by the blizzard Nemo. Some neighborhoods -- including my community of Sound Beach -- got 32 inches of snow!

It all started Thursday night as people started to prepared for the storm.  We all lived through Hurricane Sandy, and a lot of people feared they would lose power during this storm, too. There were also long lines at gas stations and gas was running out -- just like what happened with Sandy. People waited in long lines at grocery stores to get supplies.

On Friday, we woke up to light snow but still went to school. By 12:45 my school was closed and we all got to go home! The snow was getting heavier. Weather stations kept saying it would turn to rain but it never did.  All night the snow got heavier and heavier. We could hear branches cracking outside.  Cars were getting stuck on roads. People we knew were trapped in cars or at train stations trying to figure out how to get home!

The snow got so high that we couldn't open our front door. The branches on trees we hanging all the way to the ground.  We just kept our fingers crossed the power would stay on.

By Saturday morning, the snow had ended and we could see our winter wonderland! Although some people were not happy to shovel! The sound of snow blowers fill the air.  Kids are snowball fighting and sledding.  The snow is so high that its difficult to walk in some spots.

The town of Brookhaven has issued an emergency executive order that states nobody is allowed to be out on the roads starting at 10:00 a.m. until further notice.  The roads are really dangerous for travel.

I plan in spending my day building a snowman and drinking lots of hot chocolate!

—Kid Reporter William Russell

Photo: Snow blankets cars an streets in Sound Beach, Long Island. There is so much snow that tree branches are sagging under the weight. (Courtesy William Russell)

Blizzard Bears Down

Northeast braces for historic storm

In recent years, the Boston area hasn't been hit by any major snowstorms. But that is all about to change.

A major winter storm has begun moving dropping heavy snow, ice, and rain on the northeastern part of the United States. The storm has been named Nemo by the Weather Channel, and it could bring one of the largest blizzards this section of the country has ever seen.

Read the rest of the story on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website! And share your stories and experiences of the storm in the comments section below!

Photo: Kevin Quick plows a slushy mix during a winter storm in Buffalo, New York, on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

—Kid Reporter Coleman Hirschberg 

Tell Us What You Think: Black History Month

Read today's top story and answer the following questions in the comments section below:

What do you do at your school to celebrate Black History Month? What civil rights leader has inspired you the most? Why?

Photo: (left) Rosa Parks smiles during a ceremony where she received the Congressional Medal of Freedom in Detroit, Mich., Nov. 28, 1999; the Rosa Parks bus is on permanent display inside Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. (right) (Credits: (left) AP Photo/Paul Sancya, (right) courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum)