The Most Influential Person of 2007: My Mom
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The most influential person in my life is my mom. My mom’s name is Wanda Boyd. She has been influential to me throughout my whole life. She helped me with my homework when I didn’t understand it. She brought me into this world from dead to alive where there was light. She taught me right from wrong. She put clothes on my body and bought food for me to eat. She has always loved me. She took me to school in the morning. She helped me get better when I was sick. She did my hair when it looked a mess. She bought me toys when I was bored. On Christmas she got me everything on my list. On my birthday she bought me lots of stuff… like a birthday cake, ice cream and party balloons. She even taught me how to spell my name when I was 4 years old. My mom helped me read when I got stuck on a world I thought was difficult. When I failed, she helped me bring up my grades. She got me an umbrella when on rainy days. She woke me up every morning when it was time for school. She bought me a winter coat on cold and freezing days. These are the reasons why she is the most influential person in my life. This is why I love my mom.
Thank you mom.
Jordin Sparks, the 2007 "American Idol winner"
FNN reporter Nadean Talley interviews Michael Cooper, III at NBC4.
Congrats to Friendship student Michael Cooper III (pictured here) for a great job.
FNN reporters had the opportunity to interview women from Kenya at the League of Women Voters in Washington, DC. The women were in the United States to learn about our electoral process in hopes of strengthening their own system and specifically to encourage more women in their own country to vote and get involved. This will not be an easy task for them when they return to Kenya as most women are not encouraged to do either. Listen to the audio interviews below to find out what the women had to say.
When I saw DreamGirls I thought it was a good movie. It was funny, sad and interesting. I thought that first-time actress Jennifer Hudson was wonderful. She is such a good singer and a good actress. The music was so good. I thought the best song in the movie was “And I’m Telling You”. I also liked “Listen” by Beyonce’. And both versions of “One Night Only” were great. I thought all of Beyonce’s outfits were cute. I think all the outfits were creative and pretty. The colors were great and the jewelry went well with the costumes. I liked the outfits because they were creative, but not over the top. I liked the movie and the creative way the director and cast did things. The acting was amazing. And I believe Jennifer Hudson played her part the way it was supposed to be played. I think anybody who likes music, drama and comedy should buy the DreamGirls DVD coming in May.
On December 7, 2006, the FNN High School Marketing Team went to the Edison Schools office in New York to consult with Edison Schools founder Chris Whittle on how to improve FNN’s marketing strategy. The meeting was a success and FNN is now in the process of creating a new marketing strategy based on Mr. Whittle’s great advice. In addition to business, FNN managed to take in the sites of New York and bump into one of their favorite celebrities.
The situation in Darfur has gotten out of control. Darfur is in Sudan and Sudan is in Africa. The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003. People have been raped and killed. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of fighting. This is a horrible genocide affecting the Darfurian people. I think that this is unacceptable. Omar al-Bashir, the president of Darfur, is doing nothing to stop the killing of his people. He is the villain. It hurts me to know that he would do nothing to help the people that he has sworn to protect. He should help save lives. Even though President Bush is not in Darfur he has the power to get the United Nations to send soldiers there. I believe that helping people in Darfur is more important than killing people in Iraq. I also want to say that just because we are young adults, doesn’t mean we can’t do something about the genocide. You can tell every one you know to go to 
In December, 2006 Collegiate students from Ms. Sandra Littlejohn’s public speaking class had the opportunity to interview two activists from Sierra Leone who work to stop child labor in the diamond mines. Listen to the interviews below to find out what they are doing and what you can do to help. These interviews were made possible thanks to Aaron Fishbone, International Debate Education Association, The UN Foundation and The Center for Development and Population Activities.
Last year, my fifth grade class went on a unique filed trip to The Lincoln Memorial. We were there to recite the speech, “I Have A Dream.” We practiced for weeks and maybe months just for those five minutes. When we got there, it wasn’t what we expected. As we were walking towards the memorial, we looked down at our feet and saw a reflecting pool. We thought that it would be fresh, neat and maybe full of water. We looked down and saw that the reflecting pool (where the people had stood in 1969 watching the brave and courageous Dr. King make that bold and full-of-good-information speech) was full of trash, birds and food. The birds were eating the trash that people had thrown into the pool. We were not going to let that bring us down even though we were sad and disappointed when we saw the reflecting pool. We were going to do exactly what we came to do. We took a deep breath and recited the speech just like Martin Luther King Jr. himself. While we were reciting the famous poem, my teacher stood on the side recording the whole thing so she could show it to our parents at the parent-teacher conference. After we recited the poem, we received a standing ovation from the people that came to see the Lincoln Memorial. When I saw the trash in the pool I felt mad and started thinking about how Dr.King would feel. I thought he would start feeling mad and disappointed. But, that’s just me! It was so fun and so educational that I would like to do it all over again!
1. Think about what you are going to say before you ask that person to be your valentine.
Many decisions that you, as a teen want to make, happens through the mayor’s office. If you want a later curfew, you have to go to the mayor. The mayor’s race is a forum for the mayoral candidates to tell you why you should vote for them. The candidates want your VOTE. They want to work for YOU. So you should take the time to find out about who they are and then pick the candidate you want to represent YOU. If you aren’t old enough to vote you can volunteer to help the candidate you think will represent you best.
This summer our magazine staff came up with five issues we felt were most important to us: minimum wage, the environment, teen crime, gentrification and using money from the cigarette tax to fund city programs. And we went to a teen forum at the Cosmos Club on July 20, 2006, to hear the candidates speak and ask them questions based on those issues. We were able to interview three out of the five main candidates. We did not receive the opportunity to interview Adrian Fenty, who is in the lead. My staff and I learned how important the mayoral candidates are to us. We realized why we should care about who the mayor is.
Based on our research and interviews, we came to the conclusion that Marie Johns should be mayor because we felt that she was the candidate who was the most real to us. We felt that most of the past DC mayors made false promises to the citizens of DC. Out of all the candidates, Marie Johns just seemed the most real and determined to do what she said. We need somebody like that to be mayor of DC. But you can decide for yourself by reading our results on the following pages.
Lashay Singletary interviewed Linda Cropp at a construction site on L Street.
We weren't able to interview Adrian Fenty. You can find out about his platform at his web site.
Tiara Marshall Interviewed Marie Johns at a teen forum at the Cosmos Club.
We weren't able to interview Vincent Orange. You can find out about his platform at his web site.