Things I Can't Explain

For reasons I cannot say, I have stopped writing about the work I do for The Bristol Press and the events and people of Bristol, Connecticut.

I wish it were different, and when I am able to resume Extra B.S., I will. Readers can still reach me by clicking on the email link to the right.

Thanks to all of you who put eyeballs on Extra Big Scoop. I truly appreciate it.

Anyone who is interested in continuing to follow what I have to say is invited and encouraged to visit http://www.yjiblog.org/, which is the official blog of Youth Journalism International. I do a lot of posting there.

As you may know, YJI, founded by myself and my husband Steve Collins, is an educational, non-profit organization, a 501(c)(3) public charity, based here in Connecticut, with students around the world -- five continents and counting!

Youth Journalism International (http://www.youthjournalism.org/) got its start in Bristol in 1994. YJI connects teen writers, artists and photographers with peers around the globe, teaches journalism, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and promotes and defends a free youth press.

We do not charge students to participate, and it's a great way for them to learn about journalism and each other. A large body of our students' work can be seen in the award-winning, independent, online teen newspaper, http://www.readthetattoo.com/.

You can check out YJI's ratings, as described by students, alumni, parents, grandparents and professionals, at http://www.greatnonprofits.org/.

If you care about Bristol, please keep an eye on the Bristol Blog (http://www.bristoltoday.com/), which is Steve's work blog. Despite the often nasty anonymous comments that follow his posts, there is still a lot there for interested readers.

If you care about our world, the future of journalism or young people -- or if you just want to keep tabs on what the next generation has to say, please support Youth Journalism International in whatever way you can. Definitely check out http://www.yjiblog.org/. Become a follower! :)

Thank you all.

New Look for Youth Journalism International's Blog

I spent a good deal of time over the holiday doing work for Youth Journalism International, an educational non-profit organization that I run with my husband, Steve Collins.

Youth Journalism International connects teen writers, artists and photographers with peers around the globe, teaches journalism, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and promotes and defends a free youth press.

We've been at it since 1994 and have about 150 students on five continents and a long line of kids waiting to get involved.

One of the things we did over the weekend was spruce up YJI's blog a little bit. If you're interested, check it out at http://www.yjiblog.org/ and see what you think.

Hurricane Katrina, Five Years Later

Today marks five years since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast.
Samantha Perez, a high school student from St. Bernard Parish -- whcih took the brunt of the storm -- was just starting her senior year when her family fled their home just before it hit.
Samantha Perez is a writer. She chronicled her own story of life before, during and after Katrina for Youth Journalism International. She began writing before the storm hit and continued for a year afterward. It's an amazing work, and if you haven't read it, take the time to do so.
This powerful, emotional and ultimately uplifting journal is all online in the independent teen newspaper, The Tattoo, at http://www.readthetattoo.com/.

Egyptian Girl Chronicles Ramadan

Jessica Elsayed, a teenager in Alexandria, Egypt, is writing a Ramadan journal for Youth Journalism International, where she is one of my students.
Jessica is the kind of kid that makes you smile every time you get a note from her. She's so excited about life, about writing, about her future. Right now, she's thinking a lot about college, which comes for her next year.
She's been doing a good job of writing regularly during Ramadan, which is the Muslim holy month. As a Muslim, she's expected to be fasting for Ramadan from dawn to dusk. She starts the journal explaining what Ramadan is and is exploring other related topics as it goes along.
It's interesting reading. If you check it out, I bet you'll see why I'm so proud of Jessica and the rest of my hardworking young journalism students at YJI.
They give me good reason to believe in our future.
Here's the link: www.yjiblog.org

Trapped In a Frightened Crowd With No Escape

One of my fine students at Youth Journalism International (http://www.youthjournalism.org/), Katie Grosser, who lives in Germany, jumped on the story about the tragic death of 19 young people at the Love Parade music festival in her country this weekend.

On deadline, she interviewed two other Germans who were at the festival, translated their words into English and wrote a compelling news story for the world to see. It's online now at http://www.readthetattoo.com/, so check it out.

A new issue of The Tattoo, an independent international teen newspaper that is separate from but very supportive of the 501(c)(3) educational non-profit, Youth Journalism International, showcases Katie Grosser's work and more. It's not completely finished, but it will be on Monday. Don't miss it.

YJI Delivers on Acadia, Bastille Day and Brisbane

Another stellar package from my students at Youth Journalism International is online now at www.ReadTheTattoo.com, an independent, online teen newspaper that wholeheartedly supports YJI.
This time, it's a travel issue, with photos from Bastille Day in Paris from Caroline Nelissen of the Netherlands that are really something and a hometown article about Brisbane, Australia from a local girl, Nancy Hsu, with some photos showing life in that city Down Under. Finally, there's a lot of photos and an article about Acadia, where the Obamas went on vacation last weekend. That one was penned by my son Kiernan. Photos are by him and my daughter, Mary. Apparently wherever my family goes for a getaway becomes so cool that the First Family also wants to check it out the following weekend.
Incidently, my husband Steve Collins and I have been working with young reporters since 1994, long before we had kids. Now that our children are adolescents and taller than we are, to say we've been doing this work since before they were born kind of makes my head spin.
Of course, watching our former students graduate, marry and have children of their own has the same effect.
Check out www.youthjournalism.org for more information on YJI. If you're on facebook, please become a fan of YJI and then you can read all the clever things Steve posts!

YJI's World Cup Coverage

Check out the latest World Cup coverage by my student reporters at Youth Journalism International. We've got three students in South Africa -- one who lives in Singapore who is visiting, and two who live there. They've been doing their best to write about the impact of the World Cup on their nation. Meanwhile, other kids in the U.S. and Europe are weighing in with their own perspectives. You can see it all online now at www.ReadTheTattoo.com, an independent online teen newspaper that supports YJI.
The coverage isn't limited to the World Cup, either, so if soccer isn't your bag, you'll find plenty more of interest.

Please Vote One More Time for YJI

Last chance to vote for Youth Journalism International -- vote on facebook and vote directly online, today, Friday, May 14:
Here's the link: http://wildfireapp.com/website/302/contests/28169/voteable_entries
Voting is truly easy and it's free, but it ends today. Contest organizers say we are in a "nailbiter" of a race with another non-profit, a New Haven group, and we'd like to win!

Can You Spare a Minute?

Dear Readers,
I'm posting this to ask you for your help. It's easy and it's quick. It's anonymous and free. What more could you ask?
The educational non-profit organization that my husband Steve Collins and I founded and run, Youth Journalism International, is in an online contest that includes two weeks of public voting.
We were in the lead for about a week and now it's a regular horse race between us and another group.
The voting ends Friday. Anyone can vote. If you use Facebook you can vote there (facebook voting is not anonymous) and also vote online. If you don't use Facebook, you can just vote online.
Pretend you are in Chicago and vote early and often! :) Each computer can vote once every 24 hours, plus once every 24 hours on Facebook. Please take a minute to vote. It really is quick and easy. Click on the link below and click on Youth Journalism International:

http://wildfireapp.com/website/302/contests/28169/voteable_entries


Thanks to everyone who has already voted, and especially to those who have voted multiple times! If you'd like more information about Youth Journalism International or the contest, go to http://www.youthjournalism.org/, or just ask me! I'm not shy about YJI.

A Ducky Day Was Had By All

The ducks had a great day on Sunday, because they were the ones floating in the nice, cool water of the Pequabuck River.
Wow, it was hot out there in Forestville -- at least in the upper 80s -- but everyone had a great time anyway. We especially appreciate the hard work of D.J. Roberge -- he is awesome at the music and the microphone.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Youth Journalism International booth to say hello!

This is Mariechen, the African ducky

I'm pleased to introduce our final member of the worldly ducky family, Mariechen. She's named after Mariechen Puchert, a writer for Youth Journalism International and a citizen of South Africa. This bright and fun loving young woman, who is at the moment working hard in med school where she also runs the student newspaper, is coming to the U.S. next month for a visit, when we'll have the pleasure of meeting her. For now, we'll have to settle for Mariechen the ducky, who will be making an appearance at the duck race in Forestville Sunday.
I'm not exactly sure why the international ducks sold to us were from five individual countries -- Scotland, the U.S., Japan, Germany and Spain, and one for an entire continent, Africa.
Africa isn't all one country, after all.
Remember, if you can correctly name all the duckies at the YJI booth in front of Nuchies at the Duck Race in Forestville on Sunday afternoon, we'll give you a prize!

Give greetings to Mr. Inglis, the Scottish Duck

We've named this handsome little Scottish duck Mr. Inglis, after our friend Dick Inglis. Mr. Inglis is a gentleman who has traveled the world and has made his happiest home in Bristol. He's

got a worldly view, he loves children and believes strongly in education. He's become a wonderful supporter of and crucial advisor to Youth Journalism International and with his smarts to guide us, we surely are going places fast. One of the places we are going real fast real soon is the Duck Race on the Pequabuck River in Forestville. The race is on Sunday afternoon. The festival starts at 11 a.m. and runs until about 3 p.m. YJI will have a table right in front of Nuchies with all our adorable international duckies, so stop by and say hello to all of them. We'll give you a temporary duck tattoo if you want one. And, we'll give a prize to anyone who can correctly name them all!

Hope we see you there!

Hola Rosalita!

Say hola to Rosalita, the Spanish ducky that will be making her grand entrance along with all the other worldly ducks on Sunday at the Duck Race on the Pequabuck River in Forestville.
Rosalita is part of the adorable collection of tiny ducks that my organization, Youth Journalism International, will have on display at our booth at the festival on Sunday, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
They're dropping 5,000 larger and far less worldly yellow plastic ducks off the Andrews Street bridge at 2 p.m. and they'll float to the finish line at the Central Street bridge at the center of Forestville a little while later.
If you don't have a duck yet, you can get one (it's really a raffle ticket) for $5 outside of Nuchie's this weekend. If there are any left, they'll be available the day of the race. Proceeds are split by the Forestville Village Association and the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce. In the past, both groups have used proceeds from the race towards beautification projects in town.

Say Hello to Sam

Let's have a nice American howdy-do for Sam the ducky, named after Sam Yosafi and Sammy Perez, two outstanding alumni of Youth Journalism International who share the same name, sort of. Sammy Perez won't be at the Duck Race on the Pequabuck on Sunday except in spirit. Maybe I can get Sam Yosafi there, though, if he's not working, studying or performing. Sam the ducky will be there, though, along with Sgt. Schultz the German ducky and Moeka the Japanese ducky. More duckies to come, so keep watching!
Now about my two wonderful Sams.
Sam Yosafi is from Bristol, plays rock and roll and takes classes at Tunxis. He wrote many great things while part of YJI, many of them about local events and people, including the Witch's Dungeon classic horror museum.
Sammy Perez is from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana and is in college there. She's the gifted writer who gave us all a front row seat when Hurricane Katrina devastated her home, her town, uprooted her family and generally turned her world upside down when she was just a senior in high school. Her hurricane journal is an incredible read.
To find the writings of either of these wonderful American Sams, go to www.ReadTheTattoo.com and click on the writer's index, highlighted in yellow in the upper left side of the home page. Then you'll have to scroll down to Perez or Yosafi to find them and what they wrote, but it's worth the time and trouble. As you're scrolling, you might get an idea of the number of students that my husband Steve Collins and I have worked with since we started this amazing adventure of teaching journalism to young people back in 1994.

Meet Moyeka

Here's Moeka, the Japanese ducky. She's named after a little girl I knew some years ago. I think Moeka would have a blast at the duck race on Sunday. Come to think of it, she'd probably have a great time being part of Youth Journalism International if she knew about that, too.

But I lost touch with Moeka when she and my daughter headed off to different schools some years ago, so I can't appeal to her on either account, but I can appeal to you, readers, to come out to the sixth annual Duck Race on the Pequabuck.

The festival is sponsored by the Forestville Village Association and the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce. It runs from 11 a.m. to about 3 p.m., with the race at 2.

It's a great time, so come to the center of Forestville and check it out.

While you're there, find me at the booth for Youth Jouranalism International, where you can get a free temporary duck tattoo of your choice and admire all our sweet little international ducks and chat with some of our young writers.

My Favorite Festival

Oh, the joys of the annual Duck Race on the Pequabuck!

There's something quite wonderful about this little Forestville festival and if you've never attended, you should give it a try this year.

It'll be Sunday, from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the center of Forestville. I wrote about it for today's edition of The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/.)
It's truly a family festival. There are things for kids to do, and some friendly vendors selling food and ducky stuff.

My organization, Youth Journalism International, has been part of the festival as a vendor since it began six years ago. We think it's cool, from the yellow ducks to Waddles, the mascot, to the awesome disc jockey who makes life at the festival a hoot for everyone.

We especially appreciate Dave Pasqualicchio, the honorary mayor of Forestville, who has done so much to make the festival what it is today, and to keep the village clean. He's an asset to Bristol and lately, he's been getting a vicious and unfair trouncing in the blogosphere just for speaking his mind. I hope he'll feel the love on Sunday in Forestville because I know he'll be there, working hard and probably picking up litter.

For the past couple years, my students at Youth Journalism International and some of our alumni have given away temporary duck tattoos to anyone who wants a little devil duck, angel duck, hippie duck... on their arm, hand or even on their face. Mostly it's kids who get them but older people sometimes do.

This year, we'll have the ducky tattoos and we also have a few Youth Journalism International trinkets on hand for anyone who might like a postcard, magnet or information about this non-profit organization.

Oh, and get this: we will have INTERNATIONAL ducks for display this year! They'll be making their community debut at the duck race, but I'll introduce them one by one to you as we count down the days to the festival. The handsome fellow in the picture is our German duck. We'll call him Sgt. Schultz after one of my favorite readers!

Mark it on your calendar for Sunday and be sure to come by and say hello to the folks at YJI!

Young Journalists at ESPN Last Week

Last week when I went to ESPN to listen to the Soweto Gospel Choir, I wasn't alone. Three students from Youth Journalism International came along, as did a new YJI editor and my YJI co-founder (www.youthjournalism.org). Here's a picture of us in front of the big display at ESPN that shows the flags of all the countries involved in the FIFA World Cup this summer. At the top, which is not pictured, is a countdown clock showing the remaining days and hours until the first game. ESPN not only knows how to treat us visitors (very nicely), they also know how to fire up employees. Pictured are, from left, Katie Jordan of Bristol, a YJI alum who is now lending a hand as an editor (avid readers may remember her from her many years writing for The Tattoo); Becca Lazarus, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Laquandria Fenn, Steve Collins and yours truly. The kids did a great job writing about the Soweto Gospel Choir, especially since they were so mesmerized that it was hard to take notes, and especially since it was Becca and Laquandria's first reporting adventure. I have to say thanks here to ESPN for always treating my students with respect and kindness. The pieces the kids wrote, as well as something by an English boy, Patrick Hinton, about life on a military base, today in The Tattoo international teen newspaper. (www.ReadTheTattoo.com)

Young Writers on Haiti

If you haven't already, check out www.ReadTheTattoo.com. This week's issue features three new writers from Youth Journalism International. There are a couple of compelling pieces on Haiti and four movie reviews. Don't miss it!