There aren’t many physical challenges that measure up to running a marathon. In Los Angeles, volunteers have helped thousands of low-income middle and high school students train for and complete the L.A. marathon each March, changing some lives along the way. Holly St. Lifer reports.

The president's annual federal budget submission is as much about sending messages as setting spending goals. So what's the buzz this year—and where in the nation's priorities are kids, families, and communities? Jan Richter takes a look at the 2008 budget proposal.

Now's the time to make 110 your lucky number—and get in touch with your representatives in the 110th Congress. Seasoned policy specialists and former Congressional staffers Tony Peyton and Alan Lopatin have some advice on how to establish a relationship and make the case for action on the issues that matter to you.

Touted in the 1980s as a firm response to youth crime, the boot camp model has come under increasingly skeptical scrutiny. Last month, seven guards and a nurse at a Florida boot camp were charged in the January 2006 death of a 14-year-old boy, which prompted Florida to shut down its boot camp system. Erin Hanusa looks at the status of boot camps nationwide, and the latest thinking on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to residential placements for juvenile offenders.

In the upcoming year, $2876 million dollars is scheduled to be cut from academic and social programs in public high schools across the nation. This is a staggering number, considering the recent decline in test scores. To be sure, there are still many programs that tend to the needs of the students, but with all of the future cuts, this may not be the case in the future. I feel that unless changes are made, the students will continue to receive less academic attention with every passing year. The decrease in attention to gifted programs, the inadequate teacher qualifications, and the lack of funding for social events are taking away support from the students, making them less likely to succeed in the future.

A person's high school years have always been said to be the best of their lives. Not only is it supposed to be a time of meeting and befriending new people who are different, but most importantly, it is the point in life in which you take the first step in setting the foundation for the future to come (the next step being college). Not only are they supposed to be the best, but they are supposed to be the most important as well. However, it must be realized that in order for someone's high school years to be successful, there needs to be a lot of support given to every single person or they will not succeed. I feel that the high schools in the United States do not give the social needs, interests, or academic needs of today's student's the support they need.

High schools do support the academic needs of today's high schools well. There seems to be a very high percentage of college-bound students, which would indicate that this is the case. Many high schools offer advanced courses that will help the more advanced students, and they offer the regular core classes for the rest. High schools offer many areas of study as well. Courses range from Advanced Calculus to Drama. High schools are doing a very good job of preparing their students for the next levels of education.

Located just a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol, the Earth Conservation Corps is far removed from the world of legislators, lobbyists and policymakers. ECC provides a striking example of a program that engages young people in protecting the environment while learning valuable lessons about life in the process. CFK intern Kate Carta profiled the organization.

United States high schools, I feel, do a pretty good job of supporting the academic, social needs, and interests of today's students. In today's schools, we have so many alternative education programs, extra curricular activities, and other programs that it may even be difficult for a student to decide which ones to participate in.

There's good news on the rates of rape and sexual assault in the U.S.—a big decline in the rates of these crimes since the 1970s. Still, parents and other adults who care about children have a responsibility to educate kids about the dangers—and many of us feel inadequate to the task. Tamekia Reece took a look at some of the more effective programs in use to raise awareness appropriately and in ways that kids can understand.