Students: Ms.Liebert and Ms.Donovan's seventh-grade humanities class in Graham, Washington, and Channel One News starts right now!
Azia: All right, Bethel School District in Washington state with some April showers — I just hope those May flowers come along. Hey, guys, I am Azia Celestino, and rain or shine, here we go!
First up, National Guard troops are on their way to the U.S. border with Mexico.The president signed the order this week, making it official.And he saysit is to stop illegal immigrants from coming into America.
President Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to the U.S.–Mexico border has raised some questions.
Admiral James Winnefeld (ret.): This is a historically low time for illegal immigration, so it does seem a little strange that we would be sending Guard to the border at this particular time.
Azia: The number of arrests at the border dropped nearly 13 percent compared to last year, but March saw a big spike, with more than 37,000 arrests. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the March numbers prompted the move.
SecretaryKirstjen Nielsen: We are at a crisis point. We’d like to stop it before the numbers get even bigger.
Azia: Nielsen said the effort would be similar to a 2006 operation when President George W. Bush sent 6,000 troops to assist Border Patrol. In 2010President Obama also sent National Guard members to the southern border. Federal law prohibits U.S. military from acting like police; they can only act in a support capacity and cannot arrest people crossing the border illegally.
All right, moving on. Teachers across the country have been saying "class struggle in session."
Keith: Yeah,that is for sure, Azia. Last month, it was teachers in West Virginia. Now it is teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky.They are ditching class in protest, going on strike and refusing to work until the states invest more in education and increase teachers’ pay. The teachers say it is just so they can make ends meet.
Brian Davis: The big question that usually I get asked today is“Are we going to be in school on Monday?”My best answer for you right now is“I don't know.”
Keith: Brian Davis is a geography teacher in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Davis: Teachers just learn to survive. I would like to eventually have a month where I don't have to look at my checking account on a daily basis.
Keith: The dad of two is also a pitching coach for $25 a session.
Davis: When it gets tough, you just buckle down and do what needs to be done.
Keith: And at night, he is an Uber driver, workingsometimes as late as 2:00 a.m.
Davis: The hours that I am putting inI don't think Ican sustain for much longer.
Keith: All sacrifices he is making to provide for his family.
Davis: That's one of the things I've worried about the mostis my kids, the struggles that they've had and the timethat sometimes I feel like I've missed with them.
Keith: But teachers say it is not only their wallets they are worried about. It is the condition of the classrooms in Oklahoma.
Laurissa Kovacs: The chairs are in awful condition. They're broken, and they hurt.
Keith: Art teacher Laurissa Kovacs says her kids aren't even getting the basics at Oklahoma's Puterbaugh Middle School.
Kovacs: If you look through the stacks, you can just see how many of them have brokenareas and cracks.
Keith: Kovacs says she had to bring in folding chairs from home to give her students a comfortable place to sit.
That is why teachers in Oklahoma have been on strike for days.
Governor Mary Fallin: Teachers want more, but it's kind of like having a teenage kidthat wants a better car.And that's why I'm very proud that this year, we were able to get something done for our teachers.
Keith: Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill giving teachers an over-$6,000 pay raiseand added an additional $50 million to school funding.Many teachers say it is not enough. Oklahoma's teachers are demanding an increase in school funding by $200 million over three yearsand raising teachers' wages by $10,000.
Teachers in Kentucky have also been on strike for days, and Arizona teachers could be next. In Arizona 42 percent of teachers left the profession within a recent three-year period.Experts say it is a nationwide problem.
Linda Darling-Hammond: The most recent data on the national level show that about 8 percent of teachers are leaving each year.
Keith: Teachers across Arizona plan a walk-in day for schools on Wednesday and are still considering the possibility of striking.
Keith Kocinski, Channel One News.
Azia: Thanks, Keith.
Okay, after the break, a young woman making her Broadway dreams come true.
Azia: April is Autism Awareness Month.Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is a condition that ranges from mild to severe, affecting a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Right now, there is no cure, but a new study could make a big difference for kids living with autism.
Fifteen-year-old Marshall Scarpulla is one of three children in his family with autism.
Dr. Eric Hollander: There aren’t any approved treatments for what we think of as the core symptoms of autism, so all of the social difficultiesand the repetitive behaviors and the ability to function in everyday life.
Azia: Marshall is part of a nationwide test of a new drug for autism, which includes 300 children and teens. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 kids in the U.S. are on the autism spectrum. Researchers are testing whether the drug, balovaptan, can help autism symptoms.
Hollander: There would still be a need for things like speech therapy or occupational therapy.
Azia: Marshall's family doesn't knowyet whether he received a placebo or the actual drug, but his mom says she has seen a change in his behavior.
Alissa Scarpulla: Hopefully, it gets approved, and everything goes through, and we'll have a medicine for him.
Azia: And you just heard today's Words in the News: placebo, a harmless fake pill often used in research.When scientists want to test a new drug, one group gets a fake pill —the placebo — and the other group gets the real pill. And in the end, researchers compare the results to see if the real pill actually worked.
Now,Autism Awareness Month is more than just scientific research; it is also a time to promote acceptance and action. Emily Reppert met up with a young woman who is using her talent to encourage others to have an open mind.It is today's Feel-Good Friday.
Gianna Hitsos: So this is Gordon College.
Emily: Gianna Hitsos is like most college seniors, smack dab in the middle of her independence and…
Is your dad the dad that is, like, all — he has all the Gordon College swag?
Hitsos: He has a shirt that says Gordon College Dad.
Emily: Now, do you like that, or is that kind of embarrassing?
Hitsos: Both!
Emily: But with her degree within arms’ reach, she is not letting anything slow her down.
Hitsos: When I graduate,Iactually plan to pursue my dream of a singing career on Broadway.
Emily: But Gianna's journey hasn't always been music to her ears.
Hitsos: A lot of the things I struggle with,especially, are in the class, trying to understand the instructionsbeing given. Or if somebody’s going too fast for me, I get really frustrated easily, so I need to have help understanding what the person is saying.
Emily: These are common symptoms of autism, a developmental disorder she was diagnosed with at a young age. Many kids with autism are highly intelligent, but the disorder can make it hard to communicate or socialize.
Hitsos: I was bullied and made fun of all the time. They, the kids would laugh at me, and call me horrible names, or ignore me or tell me to get lost. Teachers thought that I couldn’t learn, and they put limitations on me, and it just got so bad.
Emily: So Gianna decided she couldn't be silent anymore and started talking about autism awareness.
Hitsos: I actually speak at schools and fundraisers, about what it’s like to have autism and how not to — how to be a better friend to people with disabilities.I never got that sort of acceptance and inclusion from when I was a kid, so I really want to let other kids know that the bullying that happened to me should not happen to anyone else.And I want kids to understand that being friends with people with autism is an amazing thing.
Emily: And it wasn't long before she really found her voice.
Hitsos: I actually started taking voice lessons at the Boston Conservatory because they hold a program for students on the autism spectrum, and it was at that point I realized, “Wow, I’m actually talented!” I never realized that came out of me.
Emily: Now she is pulling back the curtain to change the perceptions of autism, and she is doing it one song at a time.From Fenway Park to the Boston Conservatory, Gianna has sung at some pretty cool venues, but the one that takes center stage? Broadway, of course — performing during the first annual Arts for Autism concert at the Gershwin Theatre.
Hitsos: I'm still, like, trying to pinch myself, like, thinking it was just a dream because it was so surreal. It was a dream come true — I felt like I was on cloud nine.
Emily: Emily Reppert, Channel One News.
Azia: Such an inspirational story! Thanks,Emily.
And we got a chance to attend the United Nations' World Autism Awareness Day event. I wrote a blog post that you can check out over atChannelOne.com.
That is all from us today. Have a great weekend, and we will see you right back here on Monday.
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