The Johansen High School Band and Color Guard recently performed 'Thriller' outside Brenden Theaters in downtown Modesto.

Book review: "City of Bones"

Escalon's Kristen Steves and Evan Longstreth received the American FFA degree at the national FFA convention in Indianapolis last month. It is the highest degree awarded by the National FFA Organization. Fewer than 154 members advanced through their local chapter and state FFA degree programs to earn the national honor.

The Davis High School drama department will hold performances of "Once Upon A Mattress" today through Saturday at the school.

Becca's Closet will have dress distribution days for winter formal on Nov. 19-20.

Emily Kay Shrader, Senior, Enochs High School

Strange things happen when a book series sells 70 million copies. Fan sites are built, only to crash with onslaughts of visitors.

Experts say that major causes of car accidents are driver distractions. Such distractions include cell phones, rubbernecking, tailgating, driver fatigue, etc. According to car-accidents.com, several studies show that cell phones are a leading cause in car crashes. The site estimates that "cell-phone distracted drivers are four times more likely to be in a car wreck."

On Oct. 26, after our bi-monthly Teens in the Newsroom meeting at The Modesto Bee headquarters, my fellow teen reporters and I headed down to a conference room for a college journalism fair, sponsored by the newspaper. There we met several representatives from a variety of universities, 25 to be exact, which included schools in Arizona, Illinois, California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Oregon, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

My Hero: Aaron Gillespie, drummer/singer of Underoath

Kenneth Laverty, 14, of Boy Scout Troop 3, sponsored by Our Lady Of Fatima Parish, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouting.

Twelve local bands will be featured in the Modesto Sound Concert Series at Funworks in Modesto this month.

On Oct. 26, after our bi-monthly Teens in the Newsroom meeting at The Modesto Bee headquarters, my fellow teen reporters and I headed down to a conference room for a college journalism fair, sponsored by the newspaper. There we met several representatives from a variety of universities, 25 to be exact, which included schools in Arizona, Illinois, California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Oregon, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nineteen-year-old Peter Becht — who couldn't write his own name until the second grade, who couldn't tie his shoes until he was 11, a boy with Down syndrome — is now a young man earning the highest rank a Scout can: Eagle. Last month in a Winter Park, Fla., church, 100 people gathered to celebrate the achievement.

Social networking tools — such as Facebook, blogging and Twitter — are fast becoming an integral part of college admissions around the country as students communicate with schools in the way that has become second nature to them.