Students: Hey guys, this is Ms. Torres’ class from I.S. 230, and Channel One News starts right now!
Arielle: All right, I.S. 230 from New York City kicking us off on this Friday. Today, we have got a big civics lesson for you coming up, plus students show some love for their favorite teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.I am Arielle Hixson, and let's jump right into the news. We begin with voting in America.
President Trump is launching a new commission to look at alleged voter fraud in the U.S.
President Donald Trump: The election is rigged.
Arielle: Voter fraud was a major theme for Trump on the campaign trail. Even after the election, the president tweeted, "In addition to winning the Electoral College, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."
President Trump said 3 to 5 million people voted illegally during the election, but there is no proof of that.Yesterday, the president signed an executive order creating a Commission on Election Integrity. But there are concerns the president's panel may recommend new federal legislation making it harder to vote.
Christopher Famighetti: Voter fraud is vanishingly rare, and it calls into question the purpose of this commission.
Arielle: President Trump expects the commission to complete its report by 2018.
Okay, next, it is a disease that was almost wiped out — gone for good. But now the measles is making a comeback, and one state that is battling it is Minnesota.The outbreak of measles started about a month ago, with now more than 50 cases in Minnesota. The measles virus commonly travels through the air, where it can live for up to two hours, making it more contagious than the flu.
Patsy Stinchfield: One in a thousand children who get measles will have encephalitis, or infection in their brain. They can have permanent brain damage. They can have blindness or deafness, and so we wouldn't vaccinate if this was just a rashy illness — this is a very serious disease.
Arielle: The disease can be prevented by getting a vaccine, but some parents are skipping the shots for their kids, especially in the community of people who have come to the U.S. from Somalia. In 2014 almost 90 percent of 2-year-old Minnesota children were vaccinated against measles. In the Somali community, that number plummeted to about 40 percent.
Community leader Abdirizak Bihi says it is because of an unfounded fear that the vaccine causes autism, even though there is no legitimate research that links the two. Doctors say that false information is hurting children.
Stinchfield: It is frustrating because we know these diseases are contagious. They can spread; they can take children's lives, and all we have to do is go back to before we had vaccines, where the United States had 4 million cases of measles.
Arielle: Health officials are asking the state government for $5 million in emergency funds to deal with the outbreak.
Our next story takes us to South America and the country of Venezuela, basically a country on the brink of collapse. Tensions are on the rise, protestors are hitting the streets, and deadly clashes are a daily occurrence.
Since April, protestors have been hitting the streets almost daily. Violent clashes with police have broken out, and more than two dozen people have been killed. Protestors want the current president, Nicolas Maduro, to quit, and they want a new round of elections.
They say Maduro is trying to create new laws to give himself more power and that he is not helping the country.But Maduro and his government say they aren't budging, and they claim that protestors are being hired by foreign powers — including the U.S. — to destabilize his country.
And this isn't the only crisis Venezuela is facing. The other major one is the state of its economy. Prices have gone up so much that people can't afford to buy food; one recent report priced a dozen eggs at — get this — $150! Many in the middle class say they are starving.
But it is not just food. Gas is hard to find, and medical care is tough. Costs are so high that hospitals can't even buy medicine. The past three years have seen record levels of crime and poverty, so all together, it just makes the situation more complicated and more heated.
After the break, we catch up with teens inspiring their generation to lead.
Arielle: Okay, so I know you guys may gloss over government in class, but how much do you really know about our democracy?Azia Celestino met up with a few students making a difference in their communities. Take a look.
Azia: Students from schools all over New York came together at Riverside Church for Civics Day.
Student: When we started this project, we had to come up with our issue, and this was our issue.
Azia: The students have been working on group projects all semester, and today they are presenting to local leaders and professionals …
Student: We're trying to really make a difference.
Azia: … plans to tackle real-life issues in their communities. It is part of a program called Generation Citizen.
Laura: Not everyone thinks they have a voice in their community, and Generation Citizen definitely gives you that voice.
Azia: Generation Citizen teaches students about civics — the rights and duties of American citizens and also knowing what is going on in our world.
Terry: I didn't know anything about civics.
Azia: And that is a big problem that affects Americans of all ages and all backgrounds. This is presidential candidate Gary Johnson when he didn't know how to answer a question about the Syrian civil war.
Mike Barnicle: What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?
Governor Gary Johnson: About?
Barnicle: Aleppo.
Johnson: And what is Aleppo?
Barnicle: You're kidding.
Johnson: No.
Azia: The Nation's Report Card recently showed that only 23 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in civics. In 2015 the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that more than 80 percent of college seniors at 55 top-ranked institutions would have received a grade of either a D or an F in civics.
Laura: It's not really something that they teach you in school, I would say. You know, we have our government class, but it doesn't go into depth, like how much it affects you as an individual and moving on forward, moving on after high school, voting.
Azia: And a lack of civics education results in people turning away from politics and not participating in our democracy.
Terry: The reason why I think young people are discouraged is because, like, when, like, nobody really brings up the talk about, like, communities, what you can do.
Azia: Generation Citizen is hoping to change that by inspiring students to get informed and get involved, with the help of college volunteers called Democracy Coaches.
Mia: With the Democracy Coach, I felt more comfortable because they are, like, more closer to us, and they have experience not too long ago, like middle school.
Azia: GC students identify problems. Then they brainstorm ways to take action and reach out to community leaders and policy makers.
Aki: So you see this problem — who can we talk to?What can we do about it? And how are we going to talk to them for them to influence and impact our problem, and make it better?
Azia: And the students say the program empowers them to make a difference. Generation Citizen has helped young people to create public events, organize workshopsand even take bills all the way to the state capital. This group received an award for their work against hate crimes, and they hope their project lasts long after Civics Day.
Milo: Our cause gets to be noticed, and we get to possibly move further with this project.
Mia: No matter your age or how old you are, you can always make a change.And some students think you have to be an adult to make a change and the adults do the things, but no — we can actually make a change in our community and our generation.
Azia: A generation that is ready to take the lead and be a part of the decisions being made. Azia Celestino, Channel One News.
Arielle: Very cool. Thanks, Azia.
Coming up, talented teachers get much-deserved praise.
Arielle: Now, teachers are the ones who make you the best and brightest in the classroom. And as part of Teacher Appreciation Week, we got so many shout-outs from you guys just wanting to show your love. Here are a few of our favorites for this Feel-Good Friday.
Student: In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, I thought that I would like to thank my teachers: Mr. Hillner, our English teacher; Mrs. Wilson, our choir teacher; and Mr. Lampkey, our American history teacher who gives us the great, great pleasure of watching Channel One every single day.
Student: All right, me and Chance, we think, to Teacher Appreciation Week — we think Ms. Chambers is the best teacher ever!
Student: I'd like to thank Mrs. Graff and Mrs. Craig for being such amazing teachers and showing me how to be responsible and kind.
Jared Wilt: My name is Jared Wilt from Kenton Ridge High School in Springfield, Ohio, and I want to give a big shout-out to all my teachers out there who have really helped me through a tough time.
Student: I would like to give a shout-out to my teacher, Jason Sabala, for being the most funny and caring teacher in the world and helping me reach my goals!
Students: Thank you, Mrs. Dannaker, Ms. Fields, Ms. Felton and Mrs. Reister, along with the rest of the gang at Union County Middle School in Liberty, Indiana. To the world you may be just a teacher, but to us you are superheroes!
Arielle: So cute! And I know I have mine: Ms. Camp, you know who you are. Thank you!
Plus, the entire gang took some time out to share their stories about their favorite teacher. It is up on ChannelOne.com.
Now, have a great weekend, and don't forget to share some more love on Mother’s Day on Sunday, and we will see you right back here on Monday.
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