Room to read is an organization that is opening schools and libraries across the developing world for the poorest of the poor hundreds of schools, thousands of libraries so that every child everywhere is no longer denied an education because they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. John wood is an amazing guy. He used to be a big executive at microsoft until he went on vacation in nepal. Thats when he saw the desperate need for books and libraries. He changed the course of his own life to change the lives of children all over the world. When i was growing up in pennsylvania, we had actually a bookmobile that came to our town. And we think of this kind of as a nepalese yakmobile. Weve got our yak loaded with books, and were about to head off to go to a secondary school here to deliver about 500 books to help them start their first library. When john arrives with his yakmobile, just look at the reaction. Reading isnt just fun. Its a way for them to connect to the world beyond their isolated community. What does shirash like . He likes ice cream. He likes ice cream. What do annie and onnie like . What do annie and onnie like . They like chicken curry. [ laughing ] they like chicken curry. Do you like chicken curry . Yes . Okay. In nepal, children express gratitude with flowers and the traditional namaste. Namaste there are also grateful children in africa. Cambodia. India. And laos. Since it started, room to read has reached more than 1,600 schools, and built 15,000 libraries libraries filled with books published in the local language. This is made possible by donations of all sizes, including help from american teens. Students throughout america have gotten very involved in room to read. We have a movement called students helping students. So, students pick a goal, they pick a country, and we dont dictate to them, heres what you need to do. Heres how you need to do it. We say, heres the menu. You can decide. You decide on a project. You decide on a country. Well tell you how much its going to cost, and then well report back to you on how the money was spent. It costs 30,000 for room to read to open a school. Thats a lot for teens to collect. Whats great about this is that no one individual probably is going to raise enough money to build a school. But if 20 or 30 or 50 or 100 students come together and make it a project, theyre going to do it together, and its going to give them a great feeling of saying, when they hear about poverty, when they hear about global issues, theyre going to be able to say, you know what . I did something. By just raising 250, you can sponsor a scholarship for a girl. In many parts of the world, girls are not able to go to school. When you think about the fact that over 100 Million Girls in the developing world woke up this morning and did not go to school, that to me screams opportunity. Its an opportunity to get out there and make positive change in the world and to say no longer should we live in a world where any child, boy or girl, is denied education. If youre looking for a Great Service project, read my lips room to read. To find out how you can help, theres a link on our website. This report is brought to you by the American Civil Liberties union. Its one of the most Important Documents in history the u. S. Constitution. But how much do you know about it . Harry tells us about a special program to bring the historic document to life. Ever since 1787, the constitution has been guaranteeing our freedoms. Protecting those freedoms is the mission of the aclu the American Civil Liberties union. Susan herman is the president of the aclu. Welcome. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me on your show. Our pleasure. So, in 2004, congress made september 17th Constitution Day. Then, a few years ago, president obama expanded that, creating constitution week. Why is it so important to celebrate the constitution . I think there are two reasons why its really important to celebrate and to learn about the constitution. The first is that the constitution is our founding document. So, to be an american and not know whats in the constitution is like playing a game without knowing what the rules are. I think the second reason why its really important to know whats in the constitution is that the constitution isnt only about history. Its not only about what happened in the 18th century. Its about what happens to us every day. So, to give you an example of how the constitution is relevant to all of your lives and the lives of students all over the country, without the constitution, students would not have a right to disagree with their School Administration or with the government. They wouldnt have the right to express their own viewpoints. Girls might not have an opportunity to participate in sports. The school could discriminate and have fewer girls teams than they have boys teams. And School Officials or police could search your cellphone whenever they wanted, to just find out what youre up to. So, whether you know it or not, the constitution is protecting you every day. So, its really important to know what the extent of your rights are and what that means. Wow, thats really interesting. So, tell us about the aclus Interactive Program for students. Oh, were really proud of our Interactive Program. Its called Constitution Day, brought to you by the aclu. And as you were saying, the Constitution Day is having its 10th anniversary this year. And this is the second year that weve had Constitution Day brought to you by the aclu. Our primary audience here is kids in 5th to 9th grade. And so, what were trying to do is to have interactive games, programs, trivia, things that would be really fun for kids so that learning about the constitution doesnt have to be dry and boring. I see. Now, the aclu also created a special publicservice announcement . We did create a publicservice announcement. And the point is, one of the things that we did in this announcement is its animated. And what we want kids to do is to be really looking forward to Constitution Day, to realize that it can be fun, as well as interesting to find out about the constitution. Okay. Cool. So, lets take a look at that psa. [ upbeat dance music plays ] that was great. And pretty clever how you played off the initials aclu to create the line get a clu, obviously without the e. Wouldnt it be interesting if there was a constitutional right to spell words your own way . Yes. With my spelling tests, i would actually do very well with that. Now, Constitution Day is whats called a federal observance. But you want to make it more than that, dont you . Yeah, were proposing to make Constitution Day a federal holiday. We figured the declaration of independence has its own day, july 4th, and the constitution is certainly as important as that. So, what wed like to see as you were saying president obama has declared constitution week. So, kids are going to have plenty of time in school to be studying the constitution. But we would like Constitution Day not only to be limited to the schools. The aclu brought a case over 40 years ago on behalf of a student, a middle School Student called mary beth tinker, who wanted to wear a black armband to school one day to protest the war in vietnam because she disagreed with it. And the Supreme Court ruled in our favor, and she won the case. And what the Supreme Court said was the constitution does not stop at the schoolhouse door. So, thats one important thing to note, that the constitution does belong in school, and its really important for students to study the constitution. But we dont think that the constitution should be limited only to students and only to schools. We think the constitution should be going out the schoolhouse door, as well as in the schoolhouse door. And what we would like to see is Constitution Day be a federal holiday, so its not only the schools, but everybody in the country who would be paying attention to the constitution and learning more about it. How can students across the country help with that . Good question. Were sponsoring a petition on the whitehouse. Gov website, and what students can do is they can ask their parents and teachers to sign the petition. Theres also a contest that the aclu is sponsoring called the freedom funnies . Yes, thats a cartoon contest. And what were doing there is awarding 25,000 in prizes to the three top winners, 25,000 altogether. And any school that has 5th to 9th grade in it is going to be eligible. So, all kids could tell their teachers, suggest that their teachers help them to join the contest and participate. We have a great panel of celebrity judges. Theres the author of the dork diaries, rachel renee russell. Theres also nathan j. Hale, whos the author of nathans hazardous tales, bob mankoff, whos a big cartoonist withe new yorker and various other places, and jen sorensen, whos an awardwinning cartoonist. So, i think this is going to be really exciting. We had last year for our first year we sponsored an art contest, and students at a number of schools submitted murals. So, schools all over the country really got to participate in this contest and they got to win money for their schools. Plus, they got some great art for their walls. So, i think it would be great if we got a lot of participation in the cartoon contest. It would be really fun. Interesting. Where can we go to get more information . Well, you can get more information about all of this on the aclu website. You could go to. Well, thank you so much for speaking with us today. It was my pleasure. Because the u. S. Constitution plays such a vital role in all of our lives, it shouldnt just be something we think about once a year. As the aclu puts it, Constitution Day is every day. Before you drop that dollar in the school vending machine, check out my story. Your favorite snacks could be hurting the environment. Foods you probably eat every day are threatening the lives of animals like orangutans and tigers. Alexa reports on how some students are fighting back. These are teens with a mission. Theyre working to save the rainforests in indonesia and malaysia and the endangered animals that live there. We really need to take a big part in helping our environment. This became their battleground. They fought to remove some snacks from their school vending machine. But it wasnt easy. The biggest challenge i faced was other students and teachers liking the products in the vending machines that we were taking out, and they didnt want them removed. Those products all had one particular ingredient in common. The entire rainforest ecosystem is endangered because of palm oil. Palm oil is used to produce many things makeup, biodiesel fuel for cars, and, yes, even some of our favorite snacks. In fact, the World Wildlife fund says 50 of the packaged foods found in Grocery Stores are made with palm oil. The way they make, harvest palm oil is they cut down an area of rainforest they actually burn it and then they use that area to plant a palmtree farm, where they use the fruit of the palm tree to make the oil. To understand this issue, you need to understand some definitions. Sustainable Palm Oil Comes from farmers who are helping to protect the rainforests. Nonsustainable Palm Oil Comes from farmers who are hurting the ecosystem. Theyre destroying orangutan habitats and habitats of all animals in the indonesian rainforest. Jordan started researching nonsustainable palm oil as a sixth grade Current Events project. He realized he wanted to do something about it. So, he recruited his classmates. I helped spread the word. I did some online posters and banners. I was getting petitions signed by people. I wrote the petition along with a couple of friends who helped me edit it. I wrote letters to congressmen and representatives. In most cases, the students get to a certain point, and then the project kind of dies down. But this group definitely went above and beyond what was expected of them. All that hard work got noticed and got results. My group and i, we went to the assistant superintendent for business in the district, and we proposed to him our campaign and what we wanted to do, and we asked him if we could remove all the nonsustainable products from the vending machines. The recommendations that were presented were based on fact, on research, on concern for the environment, and thats what you want in our young population. Thats what you want in our students. Mr. Rubbo gave his okay to ban the offending snacks. Not wanting to anger powerful food companies, jordan doesnt want to reveal on tv the names of the products that were removed. But they included some popular choices. To find out if food has palm oil in it, you have to look at the ingredients list on the nutrition facts label on the side of the package. Then, if it says palm oil or palm kernel oil, which are two different ways of saying palm oil, you can go to our website to find out if its sustainable or not. That website is. And one more thing. Palm oil has a lot of unhealthy saturated fat another reason to watch what you eat. Keeping fit is a challenge for all of us. Now imagine what its like if you are in treatment for cancer. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under god. Indivisible, with liberty. And justice for all. Our disabled veterans pledged to sacrifice life and limb to ensure our way of life. Now, they deserve our support. Find out how you can help disabled veterans in your community. Visit dav. Org. Tell you about a new medical website designed especially for older folks. Website you say i cant work on computers, theyre not seniorfriendly. Blah, blah, blah. But the National Institutes of health fixed all that. Now you can make the type bigger, increase contrast, even make it talk to you. Just go to nihseniorhealth. Gov and get the best medical Information Available anywhere. Nih seniorhealth. Gov. Built with you in mind. If youre healthy, you probably take fitness for granted. Running and jumping and dancing no problem. But as rachel reports, kids recovering from cancer need help getting back in action. Every 39 minutes, an american kid is diagnosed with cancer. The good news is that survival rates are higher than ever. Ready . Set . Go but when kids get through treatment, they face a new challenge getting back in shape. While the kids have the heart and have the mind to get back into physical activity, their bodies sometimes just arent ready. A brain tumor and leukemia kept ryan on the sidelines, while his classmates were on the field. It was a little hard thinking, like, watching them do it and thinking that ill never be able to play football, maybe, like that stuff. Ryan is now working hard to lose the extra weight he put on during treatment. But kids like ryan risk injury if they try to do too much too soon. Thats why nationwide Childrens Hospital in ohio started a program called play strong. As a part of the program, the hospital even has a trainer to help kids get back on track. Lets not just get them better. Lets get them back to what they want to do. Lets get them back to the way they were before, and if we can, lets get them back better than they were before. And heres something to remember. Cancer survivors like ryan may not always be able to keep up with the rest of us. But when it comes to courage, theyre often miles ahead. We are somers girl scout troop 2971. And we are at the. Blaze if every halloween you carve the same, old face on your jackolantern, listen up. Carlys about to shed some light on a whole new world of creative carving options for when october rolls around. Welcome to the great jackolantern blaze. Its held every fall at Van Cortlandt manor. This historic location is not far from where washington irvings legendary headless horseman chased ichabod crane. [ horse neighing ] [ man yells ] we are in the midst of Sleepy Hollow country. This is the home of the American Heritage of halloween, and weve always had fantastic halloween events in this area, and this is probably one of the best. More than 4,000 pumpkins are used to create all sorts of clever and spooky scenes. For some displays, artificial pumpkins are needed, but most are real. We are in front of our Jurassic Park installation, where we have giant, lifesized dinosaurs that are constructed of, in some cases, more than a hundred pumpkins. We sketch them from anatomy books and create them so that theyre accurate. Each pumpkin represents a specific bone on the dinosaur. Everywhere you walk, you see imagination at work. I think this is definitely one of our most impressive exhibits. This is a huge spider web, 50 foot around, and youve got a mother spider on the web, youve got little baby spiders along the ground, and its just a really fantastic arachnoid exhibit. [ laughs ] i dont like spiders, but this is really cool. These are kind of fun spiders, you know . I think even people who dont like spiders will enjoy this exhibit because it is so impressive. And if youre wondering how all these jackolanterns get lit, help arrives just before sundown. Girl scouts from local troops are among the many volunteers who take on the task. Me and my partner maggie lit 60 pumpkins. I did 67 with my partner sophia. Usually as girl scouts, we do a lot of trips together, and last year we did this, and we loved it so much that we decided to do it again this year. Your partner holds the pumpkin back just a little bit so that the wind does not blow the candle out, and then you flick the lighter on and then you light the candle, and you put it back down. The man behind these scenes spends months coming up with new ideas. Then, he works with local artists to bring them to life. I draw inspiration from the landscape. I get a lot of ideas from the actual history that took place here. But not all the inspiration is local. You may have heard of stonehenge in england you know, the place with all those ancient stones . Well, here they have pumpkin henge. [ eerie music plays ] by the way, those things floating outside pumpkin henge arent dementors. Theyre druid ghosts. Could you carve a pumpkin as well as these people did . No way. Thats like impossible. And also while youre walking around, take a look above and look and see if you can find king kong perched on a building. I think its really cool how theres so many different designs. Theres, like, sunflowers and caterpillars and spider webs. I think its just really cool how they carved them. Could you tell me a little bit about this exhibit . Sure. This is perhaps my favorite exhibit here. This is a buzzing beehive, and you can see all the little bees that are buzzing around the hive, and this is something that was created first time last year and i just think its fantastic, and im glad we brought it back. I think its very cool. This is our first time here. So, were really enjoying it. I think its pretty impressive because to carve all those pumpkins, it must take a lot of time. Its so creative with all the pumpkins everywhere. Its so much fun. It was pretty cool seeing all the faces on the jackolanterns. The blaze includes a display featuring celtic designs from ireland. Its a way of paying tribute to the people who brought us their craving for carving. Jackolanterns actually came to america as part of an irish tradition, where the irish used to carve faces out of turnips. And when they emigrated to america, pumpkins are native to north america, and we began to carve pumpkins, and thats where jackolanterns came from. I got to tell you. This is really cool. The blaze is different every year. To find out more, check out the link on our website. For teen kids news, im carly. That wraps up our show, but well be back soon with more teen kids news. Thanks for joining us and have a great week. Announcer brought to you by. For more than 40 years, working to preserve the world we share. Hanna a shipwreck. A lost city. Swimming with piranhas. [ african tribal music plays ]