No surprise: President Obama wins California

President Obama wins the state of California. This isn’t a big shocker. California is a strongly Democratic state. Polls have consistently showed President Obama as the projected winner. A majority of counties in California lean Republican, however the most populated counties in California lean Democratic.

California holds 10 percent of the electoral college. This gave Obama a significant amount of the electoral college votes he needed to win. It is never treated with as much importance as states such as Ohio and Florida, but is has significantly contributed to the wins of Democratic Presidents.

While the electoral college votes have been called for President Obama, lines were so long that people are continuing to vote. Ballot issues are still being decided.

—Kid Reporter Miranda Rector

California voters strongly lean Democratic

As usual, California is dominantly blue. Voters coming out of the polls are proud to proclaim that they cast their ballot for President Obama.

“I think he’s done a great job under these circumstances, and he deserves four more years,” Democratic voter Andrea told the Kids Press Corps as she exited a polling place in Los Angeles. Many people felt the same way and expressed satisfaction about the past four years and hope for the next four years.

A few Romney voters did get out to the polls. “I want to see some real change,” Republican voter Deborah said.

Even though California is almost always called for a Democrat, getting out the vote is still crucial. California is one of the few states with a direct democracy, where the people vote on issues.

These pieces of legislation are hard to predict. Back in 2008, President Obama won California, but Republican-endorsed Proposition 8 was passed. This year, voters seem to lean towards legislation endorsed by Democrats.

Democratic representatives are also winning. “Democratic all the way!” one voter proclaimed.

—Kid Reporter Miranda Rector

Photo: A polling place sign in Los Angeles, California. (Courtesy Miranda Rector) 

Earth Day 2012: Kids Making the Change

Roots & Shoots is a branch of the Jane Goodall Institute that encourages kids and teens around the world to take action and make the world a better place to live. At the Los Angeles Environmental Education Fair in March, representatives from Roots & Shoots demonstrated just how easy it is for kids to come up with solutions to important environmental issues.

Kids and teens grouped into teams to work on a model invention that would be judged by a pretend investor. The assignment was to take the materials provided for us and create a model of an invention that would help stop invasive species in the Los Angeles River. The materials ranged from tape and markers to boxes and plastic lids.

The first step was to understand the problem. We found information about invasive species and used our knowledge of biology to come up with ideas on how to stop them. Once we had our ideas, the groups worked together to build models of them. 

My group was very creative, and I believe our project was awesome. We decided to tackle invasive species that are plants, and our idea was to use special chemicals and machinery to stop them and help the indigenous species grow. It was a fun experience getting to know the people I was working with. Our project didn’t win, but the cool projects that did went on to be recorded on video and shown in schools across the country.

Working on the projects taught us all that solving environmental problems isn’t as hard as it seems. We’re going to be the next generation responsible for the environment, and it's time to step up and become problem solvers.

If you want to get involved it is as easy as going to the Roots & Shoots website!

Watch the interview Damien and I did with Adrienne on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website!

—Kid Reporter Miranda Rector

Growing Up With Harry Potter

I can literally say that I’ve grown up with Harry Potter. I was born the year it was published in the U.S. by Scholastic, 1998. I’ve grown up a fan of the series, immersing myself into the brilliant and fantastical world J.K. Rowling has created.

When I was 4 years old, my mom started reading books 1-5 to me every night before I went to bed (books 6 and 7 had not yet been published). This got me hooked, as well helped me get into reading at a young age. Every night I would be excited to hear more of the thrilling adventures of Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione. I can also remember myself anxiously waiting through the opening sequence of the films so I could finally watch the movies on the living room TV.

Ever since, I’ve been a fan of both the books and the movies. I waited in a ridiculously long line to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the day after it came out. (Even though my mom and I both bought our tickets in advance and got there two hours early, we still got bad seats.) I cried when Sirius Black died at the end of Order of the Phoenix. And the image of long lines of fans waiting to buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007 remains vivid in my mind.

For a time, though, I had lost my Harry Potter obsession. It wasn’t that I stopped liking the series - I just found myself too busy to get very involved with its heavy fan-base. Yet that all changed upon seeing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at a screening on the Warner Brothers’ lot. 

The movie really hit a nerve to me for numerous reasons. I think the biggest would probably be Professor Dumbledore’s death at the very end. Not only did the moment come as a shock, since I had not yet read the book, but that scene connected to me on a more personal level. Only about a month before, my own 5th grade teacher had passed away of a heart-attack. Like Dumbledore was to Harry and to Hogwarts, Mr. Landaverde was like a second father to myself and to all of Melrose school, especially his last class of which I am proud to have been included in. There’s real magic in what the series was able to do in making Harry Potter feel so real and relatable. That whole scene was absolutely touching.

The moment I got home — and mom please forgive for this — I began to read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until I fell asleep at around midnight. It took me about 4 more days to finish it. Right after that, I read Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series. The book took me about a week to read. At the end of it, I found myself an obsessive Harry Potter fan once more.

Now, on July 15, the last movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, will be released. For fans, this will be an exciting yet sad time. The journey we have so lovingly ventured is coming to an end. Waiting for the release of the film is nerve-racking. I’m assuming many of us will shed some tears at the end of it. The actors themselves even admitted that they all cried a bit on the last day of shooting.

Harry Potter fans are among the most dedicated of any franchise. We’re a bit stubborn and a bit weird, but we’re proud of it. Hopefully, this last film will be everything the fans wish them to be.

Did you grow up with Harry Potter? What are your memories of the books and movies? Let us know in the comments!

—Kid Reporter Miranda Rector

Photo: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy adventure Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, a Warner Bros. Picturesrelease. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

Prom (the movie) at Home in My School

Teen flick filmed in L.A. school treats students to screening

There's a reason the sets for the movie Prom looked so realistic. That’s because it was filmed at a real life school and not on a set. It was filmed at my school, John Burroughs Middle School, in Los Angeles, California.

Director Joe Nussbuam told me there are two reasons for filming at an actual school rather than building a set. The first was to intentionally give the film a realistic feel. Also, it’s cheaper!

Prom was filmed in Los Angeles, but is set on the East Coast. John Burroughs Middle School, unlike most other L.A. schools, has an old-fashioned brick layout and earthy color scheme that fits with East Coast style.

“John Burroughs is a beautiful school,” Nussbaum said. “It just makes the movie feel more real.”

John Burroughs students reaped some benefit from having the movie film there over the summer months. The school was paid and the money was used to directly help students at the school.

That wasn’t the only perk, either. John Burroughs students who take drama class and/or have exceptional grades were able to attend a special early screening of the movie. Disney even gave out Rolos and candy necklaces as seen in the film.

I also attended the screening. As the producer predicted in his introduction, there were claps and cheers at every familiar hallway, staircase, and exterior shot.

There was also a funny moment of revelation for some students: a particular locker (clue word: Kranton) design was left in the school. Our lockers aren’t used, so it was a mystery what this one strange locker was doing in our hallways.

Someone finally figured out how to open it. Every single photo and fake binder from the movie was left in there. When the scene came along, people who remembered the mystery locker were caught between laughing and thinking aloud “OH! That’s what that was!”

Prom was shot over summer break, so no class schedules were interrupted. However, the film has definitely made a lasting mark on our student body. We’re all still talking about it!

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: Nolan Sotilo and Cameron Monaghan on the set of Prom in the hallway of John Burroughs Middle School, in Los Angeles, California. (PHOTO: Richard Forman Jr., SMPSP © Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved)

Special Effects "Bake Off"

Oscar VFX (visual effects) nominated Tuesday (could Harry Potter finally win?)

My family has only a few traditions, and the newest one is attending the Oscar Visual Effects Bake-off.

Last year was my first time attending and with films like Avatar and District 9 in the running, it was quite a night. While not as amazing as last year (how could it be?), the 2011 bake-off was also a night filled with visual wonder that blew me away.

The Visual Effects Bake-off is a way for the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy to decide which films will be nominated for an Oscar. Seven films are put on a short-list (or list of possible contenders). A 15-minute highlight reel of the visual effects from each film is shown, with introductions and Q & A’s book ending each one. Then, the Visual Effects branch votes for the final nominees before it goes to the entire Academy of Oscar voters.

The short list this year was: Inception, Alice in Wonderland, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Iron Man 2, Tron: Legacy, Hereafter, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. There was one big change this year. Every year before this one, three films out of seven are chosen by the Visual Effects branch of the Academy to be nominated. This year, the Visual Effects branch voted for five films to be nominated.

This change served very well for Harry Potter. Every film in the franchise has been short-listed, but has never gotten a nomination. While they consistently displayed strong highlight reels, Potter has never managed to grab a nomination.

Sorry kids, but it isn’t the type of film that Oscar voters usually vote for. Harry Potter just isn’t considered a “serious” movie. Yet with five spots, Deathly Hallows Part 1 brought delight to Potter fans and was able to get nominated. Does it have a chance of winning? Maybe not this year, but visual effects experts all agree that the final film has a big shot.

Potter’s nomination was not much of a surprise. Nor did nominations for Inception and Alice in Wonderland surprise anyone. Even before the bake-off, the talk was that they were set to be in the five.

In Inception, worlds are built and bended in a dream-like fantasy setting. In Alice in Wonderland, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen has a head that appears to be 20 times larger than her body.

What was the real surprise? Tron: Legacy not getting nominated. The film, laden with cool effects such as light-cycles and battles with Frisbee-like weapons or a younger version of actor Jeff Bridges, seemed to have everything going for it. (I, personally, wasn’t impressed, and the Academy seemed to agree with me for once.)

Now with three of the nominations going to Inception, Potter, and Alice, and Tron out of the running, there are three films and only two spots left. Those three films are Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Hereafter. Who rose victorious? Iron Man 2 and Hereafter.

To my disappointment, the Academy wasn’t impressed with Scott Pilgrim’s artsy and highly stylized look. But Iron Man 2 and Hereafter both had impressive Visual Effects, and there is no doubt in my mind that they deserved their nominations.

I ended up staying up past my bedtime, but it was all worth it. I got to watch some of the highlights from my favorite (and sadly some least favorite) films of the year. ‘Cool’ is probably the best word I can use to describe the Visual Effects Bake-off.

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: A scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. (Photo Courtesy WARNER BROTHERS)

Write Your Novel Now!

NaNoWriMo 2010 is under way!

Do you think it’s impossible to write a novel in only one month? Think again! National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, encourages writers to set and reach word count goals for a novel in the month of November. Adults push themselves to write 50,000 words. Alongside them, kids just like you participate in NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program, where you can set your own word count and write like crazy until you’re done!

Why participate? The only prizes offered are bragging rights, a feeling of self-accomplishment, and a complete novel, alongside some neat web icons to show off your participation.

Despite the fact that that these aren’t cash or cool gadgets, these prizes are still awesome! Who doesn’t want to brag about having finished a novel in elementary or middle school?NaNoWriMo also can help you in school by making you practice at your writing all month long.

Over the course of it, you’ll discover things about your creative self that you never even knew. You’ll probably get to know the novel-writing process like the back of your hand. And in the end, the scary task of writing a complete novel won’t be so daunting after all. You can reach for the sky and achieve more than you ever dreamed of.

I participated in NaNoWriMo last year, and when I finished, I was overjoyed. The month-long challenge was everything I hoped it to be and more. I worked hard and earned every award and benefit promised. In the end, I came out with a finished 10,000 word novel.

Even though it took a lot of work and effort, it was also a lot of fun! NaNoWriMo provides ways for young writers to meet other young writers and make friends. Writing a novel is also an adventure in itself, because you work your way through all the action and emotion your very own characters go through.

So, even if you don’t accomplish your goals, you’ll have a whole lot of fun trying. For any student under the age of 18, you can sign up and set your word count goal at: NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers' Project website. If you’re 13 and older, you also have the option of taking the same challenge grown-ups are by trying to write 50,000 words.

To sign up for that, go to the NaNoWriMo main site.

Get to writing! November is speeding by!

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: Captured from Young Writers' Project website.

The Fight for Women's Right to Vote

Happy Birthday to a warrior for Women's Rights.

The birthday of one of my heros is today. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born 195 years ago November 12. She is one of several women who helped gain women the right to vote, which recently had it's own anniversary. The 19th Amendment grantinging women the right to vote in the United States was approved 90 years ago in August.

The American women’s suffrage movement won a great victory after years and years of fighting for women’s rights. It took mass marches, protests, and hunger strikes. Women even went to jail for their cause.

How different would our country be today if women never won the right to vote?  Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Julia Ward Howe are just some of the amazing women who were important leaders in the suffragist movement.

You can go back further in history and find women like the Grimke sisters, who also worked to end slavery  during the Civil War. They are credited with inspiring many suffragist women to carry the battle for women's rights into the 20th century.

Then there are men like Representative Harry Burn who voted for the 19th Amendment awarding women the right to vote to become the law of the land. These people all deserve a big thank you for what they did.

I’m very proud to say that when I turn 18, I’ll be able to register to vote and have my voice heard. I can’t wait! It will be a pride-filled, exciting moment when I fill out my ballot and turn it in for the very first time.

I’ll even have the chance to be on those ballots when I’m old enough. Who knows? I might even be one of the first women U.S. Presidents, because in this country, I have an equal chance.

"As we recall the giants of women’s suffrage, we can rededicate ourselves to their noble goal: ensuring that full equality is the rule in our country, not the exception," said U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, in a statement issued on the 90th anniversary. "There is no better way to honor the brave women who came before us and to create even more opportunities for those who come next."

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: Daguerrotype of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot taken in 1856. (PHOTO CREDIT: Library of Congress)

A Blast From the Past Wins California

Democrat Jerry Brown wins third term in three decades

The results are in for the California Governor’s race. Replacing Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger will be Democrat Jerry Brown. This will be Brown’s third term as governor of California—a position he last held 35 years ago!

Brown served two terms as governor in the 1980s. He is allowed to be governor for a third term because the law prohibiting more than two terms did not exist when he was Governor the first time.

Brown is currently California’s Attorney General. He has served numerous other elected positions in the state, including Mayor of Oakland. His father, Pat Brown, was also a California Governor.

With the support of President Barack Obama and the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton, Brown was able to win a mostly Democratic state with about 3.9 million votes.

California now has Democrats in two of its major postions. Barbara Box won re-election as Senator.

Brown’s opponent Meg Whitman received 41 to 42 percent of the vote. Whitman is the former head of eBay. This was her first time to run for public office. She spent a record of more than $140 million dollars on the campaign, most of the funds coming out of her own pocket.

 —Miranda Rector

PHOTO: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown speaks at his campaign party at the Fox Theater, November 2, 2010 in Oakland, California. (Photo: Ray Chavez/Oakland Tribune/MCT/NewsCom)

 

California’s Race for Governor

A little old, a little new as former Gov takes on businesswoman 

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is hoping to win the title of Governor for the third time in 35 years. Trying to keep him from regaining the state house is former E-Bay head Meg Whitman.

While Brown, a Democrat, has the family name (his father was also Governor), Whitman, a Republican, has money. She has spent more than $140 million in her effort to become the state’s first female Governor.

The main issues on the table in California are the economy, environment, education, and immigration. Both stress the importance of fixing these issues in California. However, Brown and Whitman firmly disagree on what should be done and how.What the two do have in common is that they are both running increasingly negative campaign ads accusing each other of lying.

Brown comes into the race having already served two terms as governor from 1975-1983. The maximum of two terms does not apply to him because that law did not exist when he first served. Brown is backed by the Democratic Party and currently has a small lead in opinion polls. Former President Bill Clinton has endorsed him and current President Barack Obama is showing his support by campaigning at a Moving America Forward rally this week.

Whitman is a newcomer to politics and a former businesswoman. Being a member of the Republican Party, the candidate agrees with most of the party’s current policies. However, she has avoided most appearances with Tea Party politicians such as Sarah Palin (who has a disapproval rating of over 50 percent in California). Most of the $140 million she has spent on her campaign is her own money rather than donations from supporters.

I’ll be covering the race as the election season draws to a close. In fact, there's only a week to go! Between now and then, I’ll be covering the Moving America Forward rally with President Obama in Los Angeles and a mock-election at my school.

You can also check back here on election night to see who wins the race!

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: California Attorney General Jerry Brown (top); Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman (bottom). Photos Courtesy Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman)