- Coming up next on News Depth, we discuss what happened around the world this summer.

Nick explains the role of the Vice President.

Mary recaps what civil rights activists accomplished 60 years ago, and we meet some impressive Olympic athletes.

News Depth is now.

We are finally back from summer break and I'm so excited to be back with you all, but let's get rolling because I know this school year will be one of the best ones yet.

Hello, I'm Gabriel Kramer, thank you for joining us.

So much has happened over summer break, so let's get up to speed by reviewing the highlights of what happened while we were out.

Let's start off with what happened around the world.

First up, an update on the Israel-Hamas War happening on the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations, also known as the UN, is an international organization that works to keep peace around the world.

Back in June, the UN voted to pass a ceasefire resolution proposed by the United States.

A ceasefire is when all sides agree to stop the war.

However, the militant organization, Hamas, declined the ceasefire agreement, sending diplomats back to the drawing board and back on our continent, Mexico made history at the polls.

Claudia Scheinbaum achieved a landslide victory, becoming the first woman president of Mexico and the first Jewish person to hold a role.

She will formally take office in October.

Now that we are caught up on major international news, let's turn our attention to the biggest news out of Washington from the summer, the 2024 election.

President Joe Biden announced he will no longer be running for president back in July.

Following Biden's withdrawal, Vice President Kamala Harris was selected as the official presidential candidate for the Democratic party.

Harris is the first female vice president and the highest ranking female official in US history.

On the Republican side, former president Donald Trump has accepted his party's nomination for the 2024 presidential race.

Trump previously served as the 45th president of the country.

Both candidates have since selected who their running mates will be.

A running mate, when we are talking about elections, is a political partner on a joint ticket.

Trump has selected Ohio native JD Vance to be his vice president should he win the election, and Harris partnered up with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Besides being next in line to take over the presidency, what other responsibilities does the vice president of the United States have?

For our first politics on point segment of the season, Nick Castele walks us through the job description that can be found in the US Constitution.

- We all know the president is the commander in chief, but the vice president's job is a little less clear.

During an election, the VP is the president's right hand man.

They make campaign stops and media appearances on behalf of their running mate.

Many candidates select their VP based on who they think can help them win.

The only responsibilities the Constitution gives the VP is the job of presiding over the Senate.

This means they can help lead the voting on legislation and if the senators ever get in a tie when they're voting for something, the vice president gets to decide which side is correct.

Most importantly, the vice president is there to replace the president if they die or resign.

14 VPs have gone on to become president.

Five were elected president later on while the other nine took over after the president died or resigned.

The last vice president to take over like this was Gerald Ford who ascended to the presidency after President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

Some VPs play a more active role in governing depending on the responsibilities the president wants to give them.

Many times, the vice president acts as the president's advisor and in some cases, the VP can even be the president's close confidant and friend.

- Thanks for breaking that down for us, Nick.

There's no doubt that this has been a busy summer in the world of politics, but just 60 years ago, hundreds of volunteers gathered right here in Ohio with a long to-do list.

In 1964, civil rights activists hatched a plan to enlist volunteers to move down to Mississippi for the summer and help African Americans register to vote and get an education.

Mary Fecto tells us about what some were calling Freedom Summer.

- There are so many great reasons I'm proud to call myself an Ohioan.

We've got the best parks, food, libraries, the Ohio State Buckeyes, but at the heart of what makes us great is our history, and that includes a long history of recognizing the equality of all people.

In the 18th and 19th century, people of color were legally enslaved, mostly in the southern United States, but Ohio was a free state.

We didn't allow slavery.

In fact, some Ohioans were so disgusted by the practice that they illegally helped slaves run away to freedom.

Ohio played an important role in the Underground Railroad, a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape.

In 1884, just 20 years after the Civil War officially ended slavery, Ohio was one of the first states to pass a law for forbidding racial discrimination in public places.

In some cases, though, this law was not enforced, and in 1959 through the work of activists like Barbie Durham, the law was reinforced and expanded to stop employers from discriminating due to race.

It's now called the Ohio Civil Rights Act of 1959, but as Ohio was passing laws to prevent racial discrimination, some southern states passed laws that enforced segregation.

Many of these laws also made it difficult for African Americans to get a good education, vote or participate in politics.

In 1964, civil rights activists hatched a plan to enlist volunteers to move down to Mississippi for the summer and help African Americans register to vote and get an education.

But before heading south, the 800 volunteers met right here in Ohio.

Freedom Summer, as it came to be called, began on the campus of the Western College for Women in Oxford.

It's now known as Miami University.

While there, volunteers from all around the country learned how to register people to vote, and about the dangerous backlash they were likely to encounter in the south.

In fact, three of these volunteers would go on to fall victim to violent segregationists in Mississippi, but the project succeeded in calling attention to the Civil Rights Movement.

With the history of recognizing racial equality, it's not surprising that some of Ohio's greatest inventors, politicians, athletes, and artists are African American, and it's only because we recognize the equality that we were able to benefit from their immeasurable contributions.

- Well put, thank you, Mary, and that brings us to our poll for the week.

In your opinion, what is the best way to participate in a democracy?

Jump to our poll page to cast your ballot.

You can choose between voting, running for office, participating in public demonstrations, staying educated on the issues or a mix of everything, and remember, come back next week to see how your answer compares to that of your peers.

Last school year, we left off talking about the 2024 summer Olympics, and we wanted to know what was your favorite Olympic sport, and this could have been either to watch or even to play.

Let's check out the results of that poll.

44% of you voted for soccer, 18% of you said basketball was your favorite.

About 15% voted for something else.

12% of you voted for gymnastics.

That's our producer, Natalia's, favorite too.

8% of you said you like swimming and 3% said track and field was your favorite.

Thanks to everyone for voting.

As always, my favorite Olympic sport to watch, track and field.

It's those speedsters, I tell you, and I bet I know what News Hound's favorite sport would be, but let's ask him to be sure, it's time for Petting Zoo.

Hey there, News Hound, great to see you back.

How was your summer?

News Hound, you do know summer break is over, right?

It's time to get back to work.

Anyway, we were wondering, what is your favorite Olympic sport?

What do you mean by dog surfing?

Oh, News Hound found us a story about a dog surfing championship, that's amazing.

- [Host] The World dog surfing competition was back in Pacifica, about 15 surfing canines showed up to compete for a title that no one really worried about.

- For me, it's not competition.

For me, it's just watching all the dogs surf.

- [Host] There were four divisions: Small, medium, large, and extra large, which included Rippin Rosie.

Her owner Steve Draughter, is a lifelong surfer who says, Rosie lives to be out on the waves with her buddy.

- There's very few people that get to experience this.

I mean, it's pretty small.

There's not that many people that actually get to surf with their dogs and the people that do and really do it a lot have such an amazing bond, and it's a gift to be able to surf with your dog.

- [Host] That bond is pretty much the same for all the dogs and their human companions.

- I grab the surfboard, she starts crying like she wants to go.

So ever since then, it's just been like, all right, you're the surfer in the family.

- [Host] The competition has judges and they insist there are things they actually evaluate.

- How long they ride, how long they stay on the board, and if they do any tricks, some do tricks, some have costumes on, so it's a wide variety.

- To watch these pups hit the waves, you can click on the Petting Zoo thumbnail at the bottom of this episode page.

Great story, News Hound, I guess you can go back to sunbathing for now, but you better be ready for us next week.

The Olympics are a global multi-sport event where athletes from various countries compete in a wide range of sports.

Every four years, the athletes from around the world get to showcase their talent, dedication and sportsmanship.

This summer at the Paris Olympics, the United States came in first with the most medals.

American athletes brought home a total of 125 medals, including gold and men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, both male and female athletes left their competitors eating their dust at many track and field events, and we can't forget to mention gold medals in weightlifting and swimming as well.

The Paralympics also in Paris just wrapped up last weekend.

The Paralympics are an international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities.

The US brought home gold medals in track and field, swimming, triathlon and cycling just to name a few.

We're not just celebrating the athleticism of these impressive athletes from around the world.

Some of them are making history in and out of the arena.

A British athlete who won a bronze medal at the Beijing Paralympics is reaching for the stars.

John McFall, a Paralympian turned astronaut, could soon be the first disabled person to go into space.

He credits the Paralympics with helping to challenge preconceptions of what disabled people can achieve.

An American gymnast Simone Biles made history, leading the US to victory in the women's gymnastics team event coming back from the mentally stifling twisties that plagued her in Tokyo.

Biles is now the most decorated gymnast of all time.

Coy Wire has her story.

- Gold has been one, but they are not done.

It was a packed house, electric atmosphere, supercharged with fans and celebrities from around the globe to see the US women's gymnastics team and Simone Biles capture Olympic gold in the team competition, leveling up the silver they won in Tokyo.

- At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy this morning, so that was super exciting and then I told her I was feeling calm and ready and that's kind of exactly what happened, but after I finished vault, I was relieved.

I was like, whew, because at least no flashbacks or anything, but I did feel a lot of relief and as soon as I landed vault, I was like, oh yeah, we're gonna do this.

- [Coy] Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera dominating the field nearly six points ahead of Italy who took silver.

It's their first team medal since 1928 and Brazil taking bronze, their first ever team medal.

Now Biles winning her eighth Olympic medal, she surpasses Shannon Miller to become the most decorated American gymnast of all time, and at 27, she's now the oldest American woman ever to win gymnastics gold, five years older than the previous record.

- Thank you, Coy.

Now that summer is almost over, we can start getting excited about the fall weather, scary movies, hot chocolate, right?

Well, that's not the case for some places.

Some areas are still dealing with extreme heat.

Others are dealing with the damage already done from storms and landslides.

John Lawrence reports.

- [John] Parts of Ketchikan, Alaska destroyed by a major landslide.

- [Speaker] This just happened, things went down.

- These people being impacted are our friends, so of course it's a big issue.

It's something heartfelt, but we're gonna pull together and that's what we've always done is pull together as a community and we're gonna take care of each other.

- [John] Ketchikan mayor, Dave Kiffer, a 65 year resident of the city, said he's "never seen a slide of this magnitude."

Meanwhile, more than 2300 miles away in Motown, a different dilemma.

- Not the way you wanna start off the school year, but we can't control the weather.

- [John] The first two days of school in the Detroit district were cut short this week due to what the district claims is "inadequate cooling and the soaring temperatures."

- All the kids wants to come to get an education, but we can't because of the weather.

- [John] A similar situation in Philadelphia where 63 schools are ending three hours early two days this week because of the high heat.

- Thank you for the report, John.

Imagining living through the heat waves of summer in the desert with no electricity.

That's a reality for nearly 13,000 families in New Mexico's Navajo nation.

But as Ed Lavandera reports, relief is on the way for some of them.

- Alan Bryant watches a power line crew with curiosity and wonder.

For 70 years, he's lived on this patch of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico without electricity.

Seems like a life-changing moment for you.

- Yeah, it is, it is.

It's gonna be real good.

- [Ed] His family's home will soon be connected to the power grid.

That means air conditioning in the refrigerator.

- It's getting hot and hot and hot, drier and drier.

- That's dangerous.

- When the sun comes down, heat hits you first.

- This summer, power line crews have planted 55 poles, stretching along four miles through this rugged landscape.

The work is part of a nonprofit partnership known as LightUp Navajo.

The goal is to bring power to 13,000 families who live without electricity in one of the poorest places in the country.

The crews come from 46 different power utility companies in 16 states.

So you're less than 24 hours away from getting electricity at your house.

- Yeah, yeah, exactly.

- This is William Tom's last night, living without power.

Tomorrow, crews will connect his home to the newly installed power lines reaching his house.

He's lived here 15 years and often slept outside because it's cooler.

Did you ever get frustrated?

Did you ever think this is a hard way to live.

- Yeah, of course.

There's this frustration.

- Turn on the breakers.

- Are you ready?

- Yeah, we're ready, here we go, there we go.

- It's pretty good.

- That's pretty good.

- The light bulb's working.

Now you can go buy an air conditioning unit.

- I need to, I need to, yes, I do.

- The LightUp Navajo project started in 2019.

Almost 850 homes have been connected to the power grid.

Navajo Nation is roughly the size of West Virginia with homes spread out across rugged and isolated terrain.

It will likely take decades to finish the project.

While one family celebrates, it's a reminder that thousands of others remain disconnected, left struggling through the painful summers.

Arlene Henry's house has a small solar panel that provides a few hours of electricity, but her son needs around the clock oxygen.

They use their car as a power source.

And you'll come here to just to cool off?

- Yeah, cool off in here too with our AC.

- [Ed] She's lived like this for 56 years.

It's not clear when the LightUp Navajo initiative will reach Arlene's home.

Until then, her family will find refuge from the heat by chasing the shade cast by their home as the sun passes over.

- Thank you, Ed.

Well, a lot of you started school a few weeks back, which means you might start feeling the stress of your assignments weighing on your mental health, and as some teams have learned, sometimes when you are reaching out for support, it's best to talk to a peer.

Simply put, a peer is your equal.

For example, someone around the same age as you, in the same grade, or someone with similar experience as you.

A peer-to-peer support line in Seattle is offering that exact resource, peers helping kids in crisis, with professionals standing by of course.

Molly Shen has the details.

- Hi, thanks for calling TeamLink.

My name's Stella, what's your name?

- [Molly] Stella Ruble just graduated from Ballard High School, but she hasn't forgotten her elementary school days when she says she struggled with her mental health and needed professional help.

- And I learned from my parents that it was really difficult to even get into places to see a therapist, so I wanted to take part in being part of this resource where anybody can get this resource for free.

- [Molly] Stella is now a volunteer at TeamLink, an anonymous peer-to-peer resource line.

Most teens reach out via text or chat about bullying, substance use, stress.

If the volunteer and mentor feel the teen reaching out isn't safe, they'll connect them with a professional.

But initially, another teen might be the most comfortable person to talk to.

- Especially with like even like text lingo, like small things like what abbreviations people use or what.

Maybe we'll start talking about coping mechanisms and somebody like really likes this new show and we know about it, and so we can kind of talk with them about it.

- [Molly] Teen Link says most often, chatters just need a friendly ear.

- I think one of the things that's so important about our line is that we can hold space and hear and just be a space to listen and empathize with people.

- [Molly] There's a motto here that no problem is too big or too small.

Whatever the issue, volunteers work to make a meaningful connection.

- I think I feel satisfied, sometimes stressed.

It depends on how the night goes, but I definitely feel like I have hopefully made a difference for someone.

- Thank you, Molly.

That last story inspired our first write to us prompt of the season.

Send some supporting words to appear.

What is a message that you like to hear when you are having a hard mental health day?

Once you think of your answer, you can send it to us via email at newsdepth@ideastream.org, or you can always use our inbox forum online.

We will share some of our favorites on the next episode and highlight a few more on our website.

Now I think it would be a perfect time to check out what you sent to us through the summer.

On our last episode, we learned that the creators of Superman were from right here in Cleveland, and we ask you to throw on your cape and send us an original comic book strip.

Becca from Crestview Elementary School in Brunswick sent us a story about a nuisance that has probably happened to all of us.

Dear News Depth, my comic book strip is about a kid in the forest just walking along, then the kid, I'm going to call him, Bob, walks into a spider web.

Bob yells, there is a spiderweb on my face!

Then the spider says, hey, I put a lot of work into that.

I guess a spiderweb to the face and a talking spider is too much for poor old Bob so then Bob runs away yelling, ah, that is the end of my story, I hope you like it.

Tell News Hound he is the best.

He is the best.

Charles from Chardon Hills Elementary in Euclid wrote about a boy who learned to use his powers for the better.

Dear News Depth, I've got a good story to tell.

First, a little baby boy was born and he was able to make things float, and he made a plate float and dropped it, and his mom found out that he had super powers, and the older he got, the better he could control his powers, and when he was 15, he was able to make humans float.

Then he became a superhero and he saved people's lives.

Finally, one day, a person who could do the opposite of his power fought him in a battle.

Inconclusive, we will see who on the fight.

McKenna from Lowell Elementary in Lowell is already in a spooky mood.

Check out this story.

Paisley and Audrey went to go explore the forest behind the creepy school.

They started their adventure.

They saw footprints, and the footprints were of a duck and a dinosaur.

They wanted to see what it was, so they went and looked for it.

They found a cave and they went inside and saw the monster.

They ran far away and never went back to that school again.

Caden from Maryland Elementary in Bexley sent us this comic strip about artist block.

In this comic, I get inspired and I know what I want to draw, but not long after I say I'll finish it in five days.

Then in five days, I get tired and I don't wanna finish it, so I just throw it away.

And Franklin from St. Gabriel Consolidated School in Glendale wrote a long story titled News Hound, the Heroic Reporter.

Let's share a snippet.

A breaking news alert flashes on a nearby screen showing chaos erupting in the city streets.

News Hound's eyes narrow as he springs into action.

News Hound says, time to uncover the truth.

Arriving at the scene, News Hound witnesses a gang of super villains causing havoc.

Without hesitation, he leaps into action using his quick wit and investigative skills to outsmart the villains.

News Hound shouts, looks like it's time for some front page justice.

Whoa, those were some great stories.

Seriously, thank you so much for sharing.

You can check out the rest of News Hound, the Heroic Reporter, along with some more awesome stories sent in by you on our website.

We're almost out of time for this episode, but we just had to make sure we got to talk about some of the amazing things you all do.

Every episode, we like to recognize a student or a group of students from our community.

That's what we call the A+ Award.

You can probably tell that here at News Headquarters.

We believe that sharing news and information is important.

It helps people make decisions, feel connected to their communities, and learn new things.

We recently caught up with six fifth graders at Bath Elementary who have the same belief and they're this week's A+ Award winners.

The Voice of Bath is a team at Bath Elementary located in Bath that is in charge of the announcements at the school.

When we visited, they gave us a tour of their studio.

They used some of the same equipment and technology that we use here at News Depth.

The Voice of Bath meets every Friday to prerecord the general announcements for the following week.

They basically make five episodes in a single day.

Then they edit each episode using iMovie and they're available on demand to teachers on YouTube.

They even have QR codes so that people can easily find the announcements.

Trisha told us that by prerecording announcements, students and their teachers can get the information they need at a time that fits their schedule.

Lydia explained that depending on a class's schedule, they may not be able to hear the announcements if they were shared at a pre-scheduled time.

We were really impressed that they came up with such a useful solution to a communications challenge.

Ellie told us that they each have segments that they have to write scripts for, including on this day in history, Random Fact of the Day and Bath Team Hero Character Traits of the Month.

Rhea added that they also announced the day's weather and menu, very important information if you asked me.

Mikey and Henley told us that on Fridays, they host a talk-show style show.

Ms. Hetman, who supervises this group of aspiring newscasters, told us that this year, more than 60 students applied and six were chosen.

The students who are chosen exemplify good character, show respect, responsibility, and problem-solving skills.

Here's a big congratulations to the Voice of Bath for winning this week's A+ award.

Maybe in a few years, I'll be co-hosting with one of you.

Keep up the great work.

That's going to wrap up our first episode, but we have so many more things to learn together this year.

Teachers, if you would like a sneak peek into upcoming episodes or wanna check out some of our classroom resources, you can sign up for our newsletter.

You'll find the link in our Connect With Us tab online and students, remember that We always want to hear from you, and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can send a letter, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue.

That's Cleveland, Ohio, zip code here, 44115, and you can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Plus you can catch all of our special segments on YouTube.

Hit subscribe if you're old enough so you don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thank you so much for joining us.

It's gonna be a great year.

I'm Gabriel Kramer, we'll see you right back here next week and to everyone who stopped by to say hello and saw me on about this summer, thank you for doing that.

It was great seeing you.

- [Speaker] News Depth is made possible by Grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(bright music)