The Dare Dreamer Movement by Julene Fleurmond

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(This was originally posted on my youth site www.DreamerENT.com). As a NFTE alumnus I’m really excited to see this film, and encourage everyone to see it as well. To find out more about how you or someone you know can take part in NFTE visit www.nfte.com.)

They’re bright, energetic, and blazing a trail of accomplishment by shooting toward their dreams… Check out the film Ten9Eight featuring a group of young passionate entrepreneurs…

“In America, a kid drops out of high school every 9 seconds… Imagine if they didn’t.” The upcoming documentary Ten9Eight explores this question, by telling the stories of a group of diverse young entrepreneurs from urban neighborhoods around the country who are overlooking their circumstances and starting their own businesses. The film, by award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio, follows the teens as they compete in an annual business plan competition run by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). The teens are selected from over 24,000 students from across the country, and compete in the final round in New York City for the chance to win $10,000 to launch his or her business.

Anné Montague, age 17, Founder of Inamoratos Dance (pictured above): Anné does it all. She dances, choreographs, and takes full charge of her dance company, which she started at the age of 10. Anné was raised primarily by her father, Purcell Montague, a truck driver, as her mother suffered from drug addiction. Anné, a focused girl with a big attitude, requires her dancers to go to class and keep their grades up. Anné’s business is a non-profit, aimed at getting inner city kids off the street. Her motto? “No shirt, no shoes, no need. We dance.” Anné will attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University next year, majoring in business.

Rodney Walker, age 19, Founder of Forever Life Music and Video Productions: Rodney was put into the foster care system at the age of 5 and ended up homeless on the streets of Chicago. Almost becoming a statistic like many of his brothers, Rodney was able to chart a new future – and is now studying business as a freshman at Morehouse College.

Amanda Loyola, age 16, Founder of Eco-Dog Biscuits: Amanda’s father escaped from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, finding a job at Burger King in Brooklyn, New York. He inspired his daughter, Amanda, to think that anything might be possible in America. Amanda started her business, a vegetarian dog treat company, after her dog, Princess, died from cancer.

Anné, Rodney, Amanda are but three of several remarkably resilient kids featured in this film, all of whom are facing the most challenging of circumstances in the inner city – making their achievements all the more remarkable.

Descriptions from from the website Ten9Eight.com

Click here to read more of the teens’ stories and for more photos, and visit www.ten9eight.com to see if the film will be playing at a theater near you.

Watch the trailer for the inspiring film below:

(Note: This post is from my youth site www.DreamerENT.com).

Jennette McCurdy – She acts, she sings, and wows us with a bright personality and awesome talent…

You know her as the outspoken “Sam Puckett” on Nickelodeon’s show iCarly and have seen her appear on several other shows like True Jackson VP. Jennette is definitely multi-talented and definitely keeps us entertained on iCarly with her funny antics and great acting, and we also love her musical talent. She describes her sound as “power country” and says, “I think country music is so real and so great, and I have a lot of country influences, but a lot of pop and rock influences as well. I wanted to make sure there was a little bit of all of the influences in my music…”

A few months ago Dreamer ENT’s media partner “The Valder Beebe Show” did an interview with Jennette McCurdy, who talked about her music and acting careers, and gave some inspiring advice to others on following their passions.

Read and listen to a portion of the interview below:

Jennette McCurdy On Following Her Passions

Well let me ask you, you’ve become a star on iCarly… and you’ve starred on a number of other television shows including Malcolm in the Middle, Zoey 101, Will & Grace, Strong Medicine, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – you are quite busy!

Jennette McCurdy: (Laughs) Yeah, I’ve been really busy. I don’t know, I knew I wanted to act since I was six years old. I knew that’s absolutely what I had to do. And, I don’t know, I wouldn’t settle for anything other than acting. I love it so much.

How is it that you pursued your passion, or know to pursue your passion at a young age? You know there’s adults who don’t know what you obviously know or haven’t done what you’ve done. How do you know to pursue that passion? Or better yet, what gives you the ability to continue to pursue your passion, when you get “nos” and rejections, but you still go on.

JM: I think it’s really important that you know what your passion is, you know that that’s your passion – you can’t want to do it for any other reason other than an absolute love. It’s almost unexplained, you can’t really convey to other people why you love something so much when you love it that much, because they wouldn’t necessarily understand unless they shared the same passion. So whatever your passion is, you have to make sure that its going to be strong and last forever…

Because so many times you go on auditions and callbacks, and you keep going and pushing through, and you might get a job and then there might be a couple of months when you don’t get a job. Then you might get two jobs back to back, and there might be a couple of months when you don’t get a job. But you have to have such a strong love for it that you just keep pushing through no matter what…

No matter what roller coaster ride you’re on you have to keep going forward because if you love it, you’ve just got to know that it will work out, and you’ll get what you’re working for – what your goal is.

Listen to Jennette answer the questions below, and at the end of the clip hear her first single “So Close”:
[audio:http://dreamerent.com/audio/jennetteinterview.mp3]

Check out this fun video Jennette recently posted on her Youtube channel. In it she’s performing a cover of the song “In Color” alongside singer-songwriter Darius Rucker (former Hootie and the Blowfish lead singer who is now on the top of the country music charts).

This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend and film the Hispanic Youth Symposium at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Hosted by the Hispanic College Fund, the symposium invited more than 200 local Hispanic high school students and 100 community volunteers to come together for a fun event that prepared the students for college.

The students took part in a three-night, four-day program that allowed them to develop a network of peers and mentors, learn about resources and tools for college, and develop a long-term career vision. Students took part in art, speech, talent and essay contests where they won scholarships and prizes. They also had loads of fun playing games, dancing, exploring the college campus and making new friends.

Want to learn more about scholarships and programs sponsored by the Hispanic College Fund? Visit: www.hispanicfund.org. Who knows, you might be able to win enough to fund your future.

Yara Shahidi is a young talented model and actress, most recently seen in the film “Imagine That” alongside Eddie Murphy. I recently created this fun interactive interview header for the awesome organization Young Black Starz for an interview they did with Yara. Roll over an object below to find out more about Yara and click here for the interview.

(This was originally posted on my youth site www.DreamerENT.com).

“Does your school cafeteria serve too much greasy, unhealthy food?”

That’s the question 14-year-old Wyntergrace Williams, daughter of television show host Montel Williams, is asking as she speaks out in favor of vegetarian school lunch options. Supported by the organization PCRM, she’s spreading the word about vegetarian diets, and launched a petition to Congress to ask for changes in school lunch menus. She recently spoke about her passion for more veggie options in a recent television ad (which you can watch below), and she also wrote a letter to the Obama girls, Malia and Sasha, for their support.

More About Wyntergrace and the Campaign:

Wyntergrace Williams, daughter of television show host Montel Williams, has joined PCRM to help spread the word about the importance of vegetarian options in school lunches.

Wyntergrace is 14 years old, and three years ago, she changed to a vegetarian diet out of compassion for animals and for health concerns. She persuaded her mother to join her, and now she wants to make sure kids across the country have access to healthful vegetarian foods.

Wyntergrace attends a middle school in Greenwich, Conn. She loves her school but noticed it needed more vegetarian options in the lunch line. Realizing that many other students were also looking for healthier cafeteria meals, she started a petition to get healthful foods in her school.

The petition said, “Whether we choose them out of compassion for animals, or because of concerns about health or the environment, we all benefit from having plant-based meals available. We want to work with our cafeteria to make these new healthful offerings a success.”

The school was not hard to convince. PCRM is now working with the food service managers to test and implement new vegan meal options.

Eager to help all students find healthier foods at school, Wyntergrace was the first to sign PCRM’s national petition to Congress—and she asks that all students and concerned adults across the country sign the petition to gain support for more vegetarian options in school lunches.

Does your school cafeteria serve too much greasy, unhealthy food? Bad food is unfair to you and can risk your health over the long run. But now is the time for you to ask Congress for the healthy school lunches that you deserve.

Tell Congress that students deserve healthy foods—more vegetables, fruits, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages.

Learn more about Wyntergrace’s petition drive to persuade Congress for more vegetarian options in school meals by visiting www.HealthySchoolLunches.org.