Teens put finishing touches on Science of Skateboarding

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's new Exploratorium opened last spring, but it's designed to keep changing and evolving into the future. One new concept is to build portable exhibits that can travel away from the museum. A case in point is the science of skateboarding developed with some expert, but underage advisors.

Whether you are a sidewalk surfer or an X Games superstar, if you skateboard, you also do physics. The Exploratorium has been using skateboarding to teach scientific principles for more than a decade. They even have a video lesson online, exploring concepts such as gravity, inertia and torque. And now exhibit developers are taking the idea even further, with a traveling exhibit for a wider audience. It is not just hands-on, it's feet-on too, with all kinds of skateboard activities.

You can learn about the trucks that turn the wheels as you shift your weight, or why different types of materials are better for different types of skateboarding or how to find the center of gravity by balancing a board on your fingers.

The scientific know-how for display came from The Exploratorium staff. But the exhibit is actually aimed at teenagers, so they were brought in to help design it.

Ramses Roman Cerda, 12, told us he thinks "It's cool The Exploratorium wants to know more about skateboarding." The staff worked with San Francisco middle schoolers from a skate club run by the Jamestown Community Center. The kids helped brainstorm ideas to make the concept come alive. A few months ago they painted murals they designed for the outside of the exhibit.

Eric Dimond is with the Exploratorium. He says, "The kids are starting to refer to this as their project. It's our project together. And when I heard that, that was like the most gratifying thing, that they are really taking ownership."

MetLife funded the collaboration with a grant, but the teens supplied the energy. Noah McManus of the Jamestown Community Center says, "It's hard to kind of get them to focus on anything. And you can see today, all of a sudden, 30 kids were focused on one thing. And it's exciting to see that, to see them care."

When the exhibit was unveiled outside the Exploratorium, the skate club came to check out their work. The activities were a hit, but the artwork is what really made them proud. They looked for the parts they had painted, and speculated they might be famous now.

You can visit the exhibit for free in front of the Exploratorium at Pier 15 now, and expect to see it popping up in other spots around the Bay Area soon. It's a good lesson in physics and fun.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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TeenForce program puts foster teens to work

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Over the summer, we asked you to click the "like" button on our Facebook page to raise money for Bay Area foster children. The ABC7/Sleep Train Dream Campaign raised $30,000 -- $1 for every new "like." Although the campaign is over, we are still trying to raise awareness about the needs of foster children. ABC7 News looks at a program that's putting foster teens to work.

For Rachel Neel, her job is more than a paycheck -- it's the promise of a better life. She grew up in foster care and aged out of the system when she became an adult. She's now 20 and trying to make it on her own.

"Right now I am living in a youth shelter. It is not specifically for emancipated foster youth, it's just from 18 to 22, I believe," said Neel.

Neel and other young adults with foster backgrounds don't have the traditional family support which often helps land that first job. That's where TeenForce comes in. It's a non-profit in Santa Clara County that started two years ago to help teenagers find work. Last year it also started focusing on the needs of foster kids. The non-profit has helped prepare nearly 200 young people to enter the work force and match them with jobs. Michael Nino, 19, is among two dozen who grew up in foster care.

"Now that there are people out there that can help you and stuff like that, it gets better, you can get on your feet, learn to do what you have to do to make it out there in the real world," said Nino.

Founder John Hogan launched TeenForce with help from private sector grant money. It's follows a business model where employers pay going rate, generally minimum wage for the workers and kick in a little extra to help sustain the non-profit.

"We're putting all of these youth to work without relying on any government subsidy. We make it very easy for employers to hire qualified youth and motivated youth," said Hogan.

Goodwill CEO Michael Fox is one of nine employers in Santa Clara County putting foster teens and young adults to work. Neel is a human resource assistant at Goodwill and Nino is in the recycling warehouse.

"It gets them some stability into their life and give them job skills so they can get much better jobs down the road," said Fox.

In Los Gatos, Waleena Griffin, 19, is one of those with a foster background and is an example of why the company says the program makes good business sense.

"We work here with them. That's what I like a lot about this place actually. They trust my skills. They give a word for my skills so I'm grateful for that," said Griffin.

Neel is also grateful. Her job will help her move beyond the youth shelter. She said, "It is a confidence booster to be able to say, 'I am a working woman.'"

TeenForce says there are hundreds of young adults from foster care eager to work. They're not looking for a hand out, they're just hoping for help up.

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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