You find yourself in an auditorium surrounded by 2,000 rambunctious teenagers screaming at the top of their lungs, clapping, dancing and cheering with seemingly endless energy. Are you annoyed? Intimidated? There's no reason to be. After all, you're at the National Association of Student Councils convention. The national convention, held once a year in various locations, is a chance for high schoo

Sally Steward, executive director of the Indiana Middle Level Education Association, knows just how much popularity can affect a student's life. "You couldn't pay me a billion dollars to go back and be a seventh-grader again, because that was the worst year of my entire life,'' she says. While Steward never had to be a seventh-grader again, she did see a lot of them in her three years as seventh-g

Most middle- and high-school students would admit that a day doesn't go by without a concern about popularity or fitting in. Why is popularity so important to youths, and how is it attained? Some say it's based on what you wear or who you hang out with. Others argue that it's all about how you act. During the summer, a group of youths who had gathered for a teen summit sponsored by Indy Parks at B

Political conventions are for kids, too. That's the take from Cy Hudson, the 17-year-old son of delegate Angela Hudson, of Jeffersonville, who tagged along for some political clarity. "I've been considering myself a Republican for many years. And now I have a lot of questions and things I hope will be answered," said Hudson, a senior at Choate Rosemary Hall School in Wallingford, Conn. "I thought

Princella Smith is young and black. She's also loyal to the Republican Party and President Bush, and encourages her peers to become involved in politics and their communities. Her support for President Bush goes back to a speech he made in her home state of Arkansas promoting the No Child Left Behind Act. "He encouraged the people around my age, or maybe a little younger, to continue in the volunt