For kids, MS itself just half the battle

CHICAGO - Tiffany Jones stood before her classmates at Hillcrest High School, trembling with emotion. It was time to present her anatomy class project - and reveal a secret she'd closely guarded. Eyes downcast, Jones described a high school senior with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative illness of the nervous system. "Numbness, tingling, poor balance, muscle weakness, bladder (problems) and forgetfulness" are among the girl's symptoms, she explained. The 18-year-old "tries to stay positive because she has a lot of support from her family, friends and her church," Jones continued, her voice cracking. "(But) it makes her feel less of a person at times because she is living with a disease that she can't do anything about. Her name is - Tiffany Jones." Jones paused, trying to keep her composure, as her classmates stared, some with their mouths open.

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Parents worry about 'nature-deficit disorder' in kids

After squishing through mud, crawling under tree boughs and skirting a glassy pond, the small troop of kids and teachers stopped at a clearing in the woods. Squatting in the wet leaves, instructor Sol Doran placed a sprig of fir on the ground in front of her and another a foot away. "If this is malalo," said Doran, pointing to the first sprig and referring to the African-style hut where the journey started, "and this is the pond," she said pointing to another, "where are we?" The students from Duvall's Wilderness Awareness School, who ranged in age from about 7 to 12, considered the question. They moved a third sprig back and forth into different spots on the impromptu map. Consensus was reached. "I would agree," Doran approved.

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Oprah and the kids back home

No one has ever accused Oprah Winfrey of hiding her talents--or her generosity--under a bushel basket. Her most recent charitable venture, chronicled in Newsweek and People, on "Access Hollywood" and other places, is the opening of a private and very exclusive school for girls in South Africa. Winfrey told the BBC, "I'm looking for the opportunity to change the paradigm, to change the way not only these girls think ... but to also change the way a culture feels about what women can do." The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls opened with $40 million and a plan to create a protected space where 152 young girls from deprived backgrounds will be groomed to be comfortable in power positions. .

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