and if you start during your 11th grade year, it's definitely hectic. - probably like when you first get to high school. - well i think once you start high school you should start preparing for college because you have your grades will count and the colleges will look at your grades from ninth grade all the way to senior year. - you might be surprised to learn that many experts recommend starting far earlier. for more on this, we turn to jason ma. families hire him as a college prep coach, and he's also the ceo of the company threeeq. hi! - hi, thanks for inviting me. - you like to quote a saying by ucla coach john wooden that failure to prepare is preparing to fail. - well, i think when you look at successful people the first thing that i would try to figure out is how did they prepare in order to become successful? really most of the work is really in the preparation. - speaking of preparation, at what age should kids start preparing for college? - i had a conversation with the dean of uc san diego, admission dean, mae brown. she said, "start preparing for college in sixth grade." now, where she's really coming from is to build strong study habits, build good reading habits is really shaping your skills in ways that is going to be easier for you in high school. it's not necessarily preparing you for college per se, but it's really building a stronger foundation. - that's pretty young. besides building that foundation, what else can a sixth grader do to prepare? - when i coach my own students, i emphasize quite a bit on shaping their skills, their mindset and teaching them about some tricks of the trade on how to become successful academically and non-academically in high school. to me, in middle school whether you're in sixth grade, seventh grade, or eighth grade is really pre-high school. so very importantly is really shaping good habits. so for example, if you're so distracted in spending so much time, many hours per day, playing world of warcraft or playing games, those are not good habits and that's not exactly a real good way to spend a lot of time on. to shape and to try to replace some of the bad habits with better ones like reading, fiction and non-fiction. really spending time on doing homework, getting things done. maybe even have time to do some house chores. i think those are good mindset to start building. - how about extra curricular activities, are they important at that age? - i think it's important but i would not stress over it. i think it would be important to start building the habit of the importance of doing extra-curriculars. the purpose of doing extracurriculars is not really to do extra-curriculars. the purpose is, get into the habit of giving, of contributing, of growing along with your teammates. of being a good student. of really having the heart and the brain to contribute and to grow and to connect and to engage. those are essential skills to have. - there are people who say that increasing pressure on kids, especially by starting early, is counter productive. what do you think about that? - i disagree. i think one key to success in life is really to try to, in most cases, not all, is to start early with a purpose. understand why that's important to you. get some coaches, they're important. get high quality guidance from your parents if they are smart in certain ways but not everything. work with advisors or mentors at school or somewhere else. self-learning. you could google so many things today and just read a lot. watch useful videos and audios. to show some initiative. it's part of your skillset you want to build early. it's to learn to become a strong learner so you can keep on learning and keep on improving and keep on giving in smart ways. - what about families that can't afford to hire a college prep coach like you. what can they do? - that's one reason that i spent 2000 hours of team time putting together my own book called young leaders 3.0: stories, insights, and tips for next-generation achievers. the idea there is to impart part of my teachings in terms of mentoring and storytelling. that's one almost free resource. i think like, big picture, college board, there's a whole bunch of sites you could study yourself and talk to people. be intellectually curious be holistically curious. just learn from all sorts of methods out there. lot of it's really complementary. - thanks jason. you've certainly given us a lot to think about. - thank you, thanks for inviting. it's fun. - a new parent once asked a famous educator when the parent should start her baby's education. the educator replied, "rush home now and start, "you haven't a moment to lose." he was joking, of course. but the message is clear, if you want to get into a top college, it's almost never too early to start. for teen kids news, i'm amelia. - relaxing. how it can help you make the grade? when teen kids news continues. - [luke] closed captioning is brought to you by. - do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the work you have to do for school? well, christin's here to help, with this week's make the grade. - being a good student takes a lot of work. you have to, research, read, study, take notes, analyze, review, write, edit, relax! yes, i said relax! academic experts say students will do a better job at studying if they make a point of taking breaks. here's one way to do it. sit quietly in a comfortable position. close your eyes. slowly breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. relax your feet, your legs, your hands, your arms, and your neck, and even your face. feel the tension draining away. imagine you're at some favorite peaceful place. just be there for, say, four or five minutes. when you open your eyes, continue to sit quietly and continue your slow measured breathing for a bit longer. there. i'm certainly feeling better. a short break like this will recharge your mental batteries. i'm christin, here to help you, make the grade. - as you're about to see a state flag can have a lot to say. here's flag facts. (drum beating) - in september, 1783, american colonists and members of the british parliament signed the treaty of paris, officially ending the revolutionary war. part of that treaty granted a parcel of land to the united states known as the northwest territory. that territory would become ohio. in 1803, ohio was admitted as our seventeenth state. but it existed without a state flag for almost 100 years, until an architect named john eisemann came up with a most unusual design. - the ohio flag is the only state flag out of the 50 that's not a rectangle. it's a swallowtail flag that we usually see on a boat. what it is, is a pennant, and it comes to two points, and they chose that to be distinct. they wanted ohio to be different than all the other state flags, and they certainly achieved that. they chose to use the red white and blue of the american flag, several states have done that. but they also achieved simplicity by putting the letter o in the canton of the flag. and the letter o has two meanings to people in ohio. it's o for ohio. but it's also the buckeye state. - buckeyes are round nuts, commonly found in ohio, that native americans thought resembled the eye of a male deer, a buck. 13 stars are clustered around the o representing the original thirteen states. four more stars stand beside them, representing the next four states to be admitted to our nation, including ohio. the red and white stripes symbolize roads and waterways, which help establish ohio as a center of american interstate commerce. with flag facts, i'm eric. (fanfare music) - here's a law designed to make bugs bunny happy. in kansas, it's illegal to shoot rabbits from a boat. not exactly sure why they have that law, since i don't think rabbits swim. but if you hare of any that do, tell them that they're safe in kansas. at least from people with guns in boats. - a special athlete giving back to the community in a special way. our hooplaha pick of the week is next on teen kids news. that some goals are beyond their reach. like for example, making it onto a top college's varsity team. but as we're about to see, for one college athlete, overcoming challenges was a slam dunk. here's another great video from our friends at hooplaha. - my name is anthony ianni, and i am a national motivational speaker for the michigan department of civil rights. so, the camp we're at today is for kids on the go, it's a non-profit organization out of detroit. and for the last three weeks, actually, i've been, i've had the privilege and the honor to coach some kids with autism and maybe have a different learning disability as well. teach them the game of basketball, teach them the basics, and just have fun while we're here. and also show them that if you have dreams and goals, go out and achieve them, you know, don't let anything or anyone tell you that you can't do this, can't do that, and don't let obstacles stand in your way from living your dream. i was diagnosed when i was four years old in 1993, and when i was five years old, a group of doctors and professionals told my parents that because i have autism, i would never be successful or achieve anything in my life. i ended up graduating from high school, from okemos high school in 2007, went on to grand valley state university for two years on a full-ride scholarship for basketball. i decided, you know, it was time for me to go and live my lifelong dream, and that was to play for coach tom izzo and michigan state university. and not only did i graduate and get my degree from michigan state university, but i also became the first division one college basketball player diagnosed with autism, and it's a double in history. - anthony really is inspiring to so many, his story is inspiring to us adults, to us parents, to the parent in the program, and to the children in the camp. they just, you know, literally look up to him. but he's just made such an impact. - kids on the go is important to ethan because it was able to take him from the child that was at two years old, diagnosed, and now he's at a point where he is a very high-functioning child. he heard about this basketball camp and that he would be able to learn from somebody that played in college, and somebody that has, you know, experienced some of the same issues, and he really enjoyed it, he's just like, i want to learn how to play basketball. if this guy can teach me basketball, then i want to try. - don't be afraid to tell people, i can do this, i can do that, and you're not gonna tell me that i can't do this because i set my life. i live my dreams. you don't live it. i do. - [all] one, two, three! (shouting) - we'll have more great stories from our friends at hooplaha on future shows. for teen kids news, i'm daniella. - when it comes to healthy eating, your plate can be your guide. 1/4 of the plate should be for your protein. chicken, pork or fish are best. but red meat is okay, just be sure that it's not too often. and lean towards lean, meaning meat that has very little fat. another quarter of the plate is for your whole grains. these can be brown rice, wild rice, whole quinoa or whole grain pasta. there are literally dozens of whole grain foods to choose from. with the remaining half of your plate, pile on the veggies. or add in some fruit. a healthy meal is one of the best ways to make a healthier you. - this important message is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. they want you to keep your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and your mind on driving! - [girl] abbey i'm so glad you finally decided to come ice skating with us. - i've never been ice skating before, i'm gonna fall, i'm going to make an idiot out of myself. - you won't fall. - you'll be fine. - we won't let you fall. - we won't make fun of you. - hey guys who else should i invite? should we invite paige do you think she'll go? - kyle will. - taylor? - both of them. - i need gloves. - okay, i'll text maddie, i'll text maddie. - text her tell her. - [girl] abby i'm so glad you finally decided to come ice skating. - i'm really excited. - gloves. - abbey, watch out! (tires screeching) (sirens blaring) (electronic music) kick and punch their way out of dangerous situations. no question about it, self-defense is a great thing to know. but few of us have the time to put in the years of training it takes to become a real expert in hand to hand combat like tris in divergent. katie tells us there are some things even beginners can learn that could make a big difference in a dangerous situation. - okay, say you're a girl, walking on your own, and this happens. (gasps) what can you do? meet charley and tracy vega. they are self-defense experts okay, so what's the first thing you can tell me about being safe? - the first thing you should do katie is to keep your distance, okay. you don't ever want to let anybody get into your personal space, which we think is like seven to 10 feet, okay. so if you saw him walking up to you, you know what you'd do? put your hand up. - put your hand up at my eye level. - and say something, put your hand up. - say whatever you want, stop, what do you want, and keep your hand up there to show that person that you're keeping your distance between them. - and be creative, it's okay to be rude to a bad guy if you don't feel comfortable. so say something that'll make him stay away, okay. okay. go ahead, test it out. - say what do you want, keep back, i don't feel comfortable or i don't know you. - or get out of here. - can you keep back? - yeah, that's it. - please. - yeah, exactly. perfect, that's exactly what you want to do. - cool. can you show me a technique? - absolutely. - sure. - so i'm going to let charley grab your arm, okay? - so the natural tendency is you're gonna pull, so pull. so whoever's stronger is gonna win, right? - yeah. - so instead what i want you to do, instead of going in this direction, bring your hand straight up and step back with that leg. - and then turn and take off. - go. - perfect. - that's it. - that's really good, except you'd be running. - so what's another technique that you can show me? - well you know the one we showed you when charley ran up behind me? let us show you. - cool. - alright turn around, he's gonna grab you, okay he's gonna put his hand over your mouth and around the waist. - so one around your waist, one around the mouth. all you need to do is grab one finger and peel. - there you go. - so all i have to do is peel back one finger? - right. - and kids can do this? - right, even guys can do it. - wow. - right, pretty easy. katie this is one of my favorite ones that i'm gonna show you now, okay? this one is what you're gonna do as if, he was coming up and he's maybe gonna choke your head, you're pinned against a wall. what you're gonna do is you're gonna take two fingers and at his trachea, you're gonna drive right through. so go up and just touch him right there, and if you did that and you poked really hard, he would probably choke. - what i'd do is go, it makes them choke and it gives you plenty of time to get away. - gives you a lot of time. you're just gonna use two fingers too and you're gonna push as hard as you can. 'cause remember, you're in fear of your life. you're gonna escape, you're not gonna kill him, but you're gonna hurt him and it's gonna make a difference. - that's so much simpler than a lot of kids would think. - well you know what, it's the easy button of self-defense. but don't tell staples! - how is all of this different than typical self defense? - well you noticed we're not wearing pads and we're not throwing you on the ground. what we're doing is we're teaching you to escape, so anybody could do it. - no fighting, there's no punching, no kicking. it's about escaping because the reality is you're gonna be against someone much stronger than you are and these techniques don't require strength. - [katie] and you can escape without having a black belt. - that's right. - that's exactly right. - anybody can do it, that's right. - anybody can do it. - remember, just because you're a kid, doesn't mean you have to be a victim. as tracy and charley say, "the trick is to escape, "not stay and fight." for teen kids news, i'm katie. - if you're happy and you know it, maybe you don't clap your hands to show it. researchers say happy people tend to talk more than unhappy people. and, their conversations are different. instead of small talk, people who are happy tend to engage in meaningful conversations. so next time someone just says, nice day, tell him to cheer up! but sometimes we make the mistake of thinking a dog is friendly, when it's really not. eden tells us more. - so you're walking down the street and you come across a dog. it's wagging its tail. so you'd think he's happy to see you. but when you reach out to pet him, he suddenly turns mean. what happened? to find out, we have robin bennett and susan briggs, they call themselves the dog gurus, they're also the authors of the book off leash dog play. welcome. - thanks, we're happy to be here. - it's great to be here with you today. - so susan, we can't assume that a wagging tail is always good sign, can we? - no you can't. we love our dogs and they communicate a lot to us, and the tail is an important part of that. but just because it's wagging it's tail doesn't mean it's friendly and you should approach it. - do you have to worry about speed or where they're holding the tail? - yes, you look at whether, what position is the tail, whether they're holding it high or low, and you look at how fast that wag is. - robin, can you give us some specific examples? - well sure, let's say you're going to pet that dog and he ends up turning mean, you might have noticed the dog's tail was wagging but he might have been protecting his owner, so that tail wag might have been way up over his back, really high, because that's a really good sign that the dog is protecting something. or maybe you have a dog that's afraid of something and he's hiding, you'll find that those tail wags are gonna be really low, tucked under the body, but still wagging. but that's still a dog i wouldn't really want to pet right at that moment. - susan, besides the tail, are there other signs we should be looking for? - yes, we actually recommend we look at the other end. so let's look at the mouth. a dog that's safe to approach generally has an open mouth. a closed mouth means that a dog's starting to get uncomfortable. you can also look at their body. is there, are their muscles relaxed, is it kind of curve and loose versus a dog that you wouldn't want to approach would be very stiff. those dogs are uncomfortable and it's not safe. - but i guess the bottom line is if you don't know the dog, don't approach him unless his owner says it's okay, - yes, you want to first ask the owner and if the owner says yes, still check in with the dog to see what the dog's body language is telling you. is the mouth open, is the body posture relaxed? - so really we would say three steps. number one, ask the owner. number two, ask the dog. and number three, pet the dog if both of them say it's okay. - i certainly learned a lot. thank you both very much, - you're welcome, thanks. - it was great. - so, the next time you hear someone say that a wagging tail means the dog is friendly, you can tell them that's just an old wives tail. and you learned that here on teen kids news. - that wraps up our show. but we'll have more teen kids news for you next week. so make sure you tune in! (punk rock music) - [girl] write to us at [email protected] alex paen: the following program contains actual video of real animal emergencies and is suitable for family viewing. coming next, finding homes for abandoned rabbits, plus, visiting a bird paradise, and a puppy is trapped. [captioning made possible by telco productions, inc.] this is "animal rescue." thanks for joining us. i'm alex paen. every day ordinary people