the newspaper by and about teens l.a. layouth.com yo u January-Februaryth 2007 also inside super shy 4 school advice 6 enough violence! 8 crazy shoes 14 rose queen tryouts 18 dragon boating 20 medical job 22 my family let me down 24 you could win illustration by sarah evans, 16, temple sarah cityby evans, hs illustration $100—fill out our survey 26 News you can use p. 10 About L.A. Youth l.a. How did L.A. Youth start? Newcomer’s Orientations are held every youth Former teacher Donna Myrow founded the other month on Saturday mornings. Call for Senior WriterS: Katie Havard, Beverly Hills HS; Katherine Lam, nonprofit teen newspaper in 1988 after the Su- info at (323) 938-9194. Regular staff meetings Ramona Convent; Chris Lee, Walnut HS; Selina MacLaren, West Valley Christian preme Court Hazelwood decision, which struck are held every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. Jr./Sr. HS; Sam Rubinroit, Malibu HS; Seth Rubinroit, Malibu HS; Nattalie down student press rights. Myrow saw a need Tehrani, South HS; Manuela Yim, Fairfax HS. for an independent, uncensored forum for youth Where is L.A. Youth distributed? expression. L.A. Youth is now celebrating its 19th L.A. Youth is distributed free to teachers StaFF: Gabe Andreen, Pilgrim School; Samantha Bacic, Arcadia HS; Kendall Bass, year of publishing. at public and private schools throughout Los Harvard-Westlake School; Melanie Boysaw, S.O.C.E.S.; Kathryn Brown, L.A.C.E.S.; Rose Angeles County. It can also be picked up for free Buchberg, Pacific Hills School; Cecilia Cho, Burbank HS; Sally Cho, L.A.C.E.S.; Vanessa How is L.A. Youth doing today? at many public libraries and agencies that Cordova, Glendale HS; Nicole Del Castillo, St. Joseph’s HS; Stephanie Deutsch, Harvard- Westlake School; Karen Diaz, Warren HS; Jose Dizon, Burroughs MS; Melissa Etehad, Santa L.A. Youth now has a readership of 400,000 in provide services to teens. Monica HS; Sarah Evans, Temple City HS; Alana Folsom, Marshall HS; Adriana Garcia, San Los Angeles County. Hundreds of students have Fernando HS; Mindy Gee, L.A.C.E.S.; Genevieve Geoghan, Marlborough School; Shimia Gray, benefited from L.A. Youth’s journalism training. How is L.A. Youth funded? Centennial HS; Martha Guzman, Berendo MS; Brandy Hernandez, Hawthorne Academy; Many have graduated from college and have L.A. Youth is a nonprofit charitable organiza- Daysi Hernandez, Polytechnic HS; Susan Hernandez, Montebello HS; Brett Hicks, Loyola HS; Victoria Imtanes, Fairfax HS; Sylvana Insua-Rieger, Beverly Hills HS; Martin Isenberg, built on their experiences at L.A. Youth to pursue tion funded by grants from foundations and L.A.C.E.S.; Hayden Jacoves, Cleveland HS; Sonia Jain, Alverno HS; Hae Jin Kang, Granada careers in journalism, teaching, research and corporations, donations and advertising. Hills Charter HS; Marcus Kazazian, Daniel Murphy Catholic HS; Alex Key, L.A.C.E.S.; Se Kim, other fields. Pacifica Christian HS; Chloe Lafferty, Le Lycée Français; Charlene Lee, Walnut HS; Stormie Our Foster Youth Writing Project has brought What’s L.A. Youth’s mission? Leoni, The Buckley School; Nadine Levyfield, Eagle Rock HS; Jowee Lirio, Daniel Murphy Catholic HS; Leira Marte, Notre Dame Academy; Victorino Martinez, Daniel Murphy Catholic the stories of teens in foster care to the newspa- We will provide teens with the highest level of HS; Brad Marx; Michael Masilungan, Daniel Murphy Catholic HS; Shannon Matloob, Beverly per. For more info, see www.layouth.com. journalism education, civic literacy and job skills. Hills HS; Lily McGarr, Santa Monica HS; Daniel McKinney, Loyola HS; Reanna Moon, Hoover We will strengthen and build our relationships HS; Fred Scarf, Birmingham HS; Estee Schwartz, Concord HS; Mel Shin, Whitney HS; Malik How do teens get involved with L.A. Youth? with more teachers to bring relevant issues into Smith-Thompson, Daniel Webster MS; Samantha Sumampong, Bishop Alemany HS; Joshua Sushman, Hamilton HS; Zoe Tambling, Walter Reed MS; Ana Tenorio, Orthopedic Hospital Teens usually join the staff of L.A. Youth the classroom and improve the quality of educa- Medical Magnet HS; Charlotte Toumanoff, Marshall HS; Trayvione Travis, Ofman Learning when they read the newspaper and see a notice tion. We will reach out to the community to better Center; Katherine Trujillo, Notre Dame Academy; Tiffany Tsai, Palos Verdes Peninsula HS; inviting them to a Newcomer’s Orientation. They educate policy makers about teen issues; create a Paul Uhlenkott, Hamilton HS; Tanya Vazquez, Downtown Magnets HS; Mar Velez, Venice HS; also get involved through our summer workshop more positive image of teens in the mainstream Kenisha Williams, Dorsey HS; Angela Wu, Walnut HS; Jisu Yoo, Wilson MS. for writers. Sometimes a teacher or parent will media; and raise the credibility and awareness of encourage them to get involved. L.A. Youth. PubliSher: Donna C. Myrow managing Editor: Elizabeth “Libby” Hartigan editorS: Mike Fricano, Amanda Riddle adminiStrative coordinator: Robyn Zelmanovitz Free copies of L.A. Youth deSign conSultant: Tomi Nelkin L.A. Youth is published by Youth News Service (YNS), a not-for-profit corporation. Editorial offices are at 5967 W. Third St. Suite 301, Los Angeles CA 90036. Phone (323) 938-9194. Web for Los Angeles teachers site: www.layouth.com; E-mail: [email protected] L.A. Youth would like to express its gratitude to the following individuals, who donate their time, patience and expertise to our writers: L.A. Youth is distributed free six times a year to forward to getting a free copy of the L.A. Youth high school or middle school teachers in most Teacher’s Guide with each issue. We do not share l.a. Youth Board of DirectorS of Los Angeles County. Teachers also can look your info with other organizations or businesses. Gail Boyle - Union Bank of California Drew Combs - Los Angeles Daily Journal (L.A. Youth alumnus) Eva Semple Davis - Warner Brothers Home Video Fred Freeman - Writer/Producer Martin Z. N. Katz, Esq. Douglas Mirell - Loeb & Loeb LLP YES, I would like to receive L.a. Youth Nancy Padberg - Navigate Consulting, LLC free of charge six times a year. Ken Preston - Consultant David Rickley - Los Angeles Times name Jeff Sperber, Educator Aaron Tamburello - Wells Fargo School The Los Angeles Times donates the printing of L.A. Youth. l.a. Youth adviSory Board School Phone Ext. Stephen Clark, HUD; Noel Greenwood, Los Angeles Times (retired); Bill Leider, Leider, Murphy and Assoc.; Lucille Polachek; SpotRunner; Tom Trapnell, Los Angeles Times; Zeek address Interactive, Inc. Many thanks to our friends who made this issue possible: city Zip code Bank of America Foundation, Bay & Paul Foundation, Bing Family Foundation, Brinson Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Marcy Carsey, e-mail Coca-Cola Inc., Carol and James Collins Foundation, Compton Foundation, Brad and Grace Ellis, Endeavor Foundation, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Times, Majestic Realty, McCormick Tribune Foundation, Northrup Grumman, Ogilvy Public Relations, Open Special delivery instructions: Society Institute, Pacific Life Foundation, Parsons Foundation, The Rose Hills Foundation, Roth Family Foundation, Robert Ellis Simon Foundation, Helen and Jeff Sperber, Dwight ❏ ❏ ❏ Stuart Youth Foundation, Stuart Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Union Bank, Weingart I would like: 40 copies 120 copies 185 copies Foundation. mail to: l.a. Youth Subscriptions, 5967 W. Third St. Also: David Hernandez, Mark Kurtich, Jan Langer, Dave Novotney, Mike Sergieff, Leonard Simon, PhD., Rick Terry. Suite 301, Los Angeles CA 90036 or call (323) 938- To get a subscription through the mail, send $15 for one year (six issues) to: Circulation 9194 or e-mail [email protected]. Dept., L.A. Youth, 5967 W. Third St. Suite 301, Los Angeles CA 90036. Provide name, address and zip code. Copyright © 2007 All rights reserved. 2 l.a. Youth January-February 2007 www.laYouth.com c o n t e n t s l.a.youth mail JanuaRy-FebRuaRy 2007 These are letters we received about stories in the November chooSing the Cover Story issue of L.A. Youth. right college a day in juvenile news court I enjoyed the article “Is Har- vard right for me?” by Kather- you can ine Lam. This article relates to The article “A day in court” many high school students (and 10-11 about teens in court was shock- to myself in a couple of years) use ing. I was amazed at the ages who are looking for the right of some of the kids who were college to attend. The sentence, convicted of serious crimes like “Going to a nationally-recog- vandalism, gang crimes and nized university is not going to creative sex offenses. Even though all make anyone into a successful of those teens had hard lives, and caring individual; people ways to get it was amazing how many of are going to thrive in places 12 them wanted to go to college that are right for them” needs informed and be successful. What was to be told to every student who even more shocking was that wants to graduate. Many think some of the parents and close that high-achiever schools are relatives didn’t know what their better than the schools right for kids were doing, which is really their level of learning. sad. If the parents cared more Anna Prewett, Sherman about their children’s actions, Oaks Center for Enriched the teens wouldn’t be in court. Studies (S.O.C.E.S.) I think this article was very the courage to be shy I don’t need ‘em important because it tells teens in tight situations to make the imageS oF Paul got help overcoming his When Shimia finally met her right choice regarding their ac- immigration anxiety around others, while also relatives after years of wondering tions and carefully choose who learning to accept who he is.