(upbeat music) - Coming up next on NewsDepth, we review what we learned this school year.

Does the President go on vacation?

Nick has the answer.

Olympic star, Jesse Owens, broke records off and on the track and we hear about the origin story of Superman.

NewsDepth is now.

That's this week on NewsDepth.

Watch new episodes Fridays at 1:00 pm on WVIZ.

(upbeat music continues) We made it to the end of season 54.

I'm so proud of us.

Well, I'm proud of you anyway.

Hello everybody, I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you for joining us for the final episode of the 2023-2024 school year.

A lot can happen in a year.

The US voted for the Democratic and Republican candidates for the upcoming presidential election.

We saw some extreme weather across the country.

The Israel-Palestine conflict came to a head with a declaration of war and we saw a total solar eclipse.

Let's review what we learned together this year, kind of like you do in class before an exam.

But don't worry, I'm not gonna test you on this one.

Natalia Garcia has a recap of what we learned this season.

- [Natalia Garcia] We started this school year after a great summer.

The Beyonce and Taylor Swift concert tours, as well as the "Barbie" movie, increased consumer spending.

- Women are not to be underestimated.

They lift up economies, and that impact is not to be overlooked.

- [Natalia Garcia] Israel declared war on the militant organization Hamas after an attack on October 7th.

The Israel-Palestine conflict started, because both countries were claiming rights to the same piece of land, the Gaza Strip.

- [Interpreter] Gaza will take five years to raise its head after this says Wahiba Sirsawi.

And after five years, there will be two or three more wars.

It's a catastrophe.

- [Natalia Garcia] We visited Camp Cheerful to learn about adaptive riding.

- The adaptive riding program is geared towards a writer's individual goals.

So, although the rider has disabilities, we gear the lesson towards what their goals are.

So, for some it may be following directions, it may be improving their posture and sitting up tall.

Some of them may be sequencing, building some self-confidence, that sort of thing.

- [Natalia Garcia] President Biden and former President Trump were selected as the presidential candidates for their political parties after primary elections and caucuses.

- Caucuses are meetings run by political parties where people can have their voices heard and openly express their points of views on the candidates.

- [Natalia Garcia] An AI professional answered your questions about his job for our career callout segment.

- Grayson from Parkwood Elementary in Beaver Creek ask, "What are some of the ways people can use AI?

So, AI is a tool.

It has, as I said, limitless possibilities.

It's like a pencil.

You can use it to write, you can use it to draw, you can use it to play games.

- [Natalia Garcia] And on April 8th, Northeast Ohio was on the path of totality for the total solar eclipse.

So, when we're talking about total solar eclipses, we wanna focus on the path of totality.

That's where the darkest part of the Moon shadow will cross the Earth.

And if you are within the path of totality, you get 100% coverage of the Sun at some point during the day.

- Thank you, Natalia, who by the way, is the producer of our show.

Okay, I think we're all ready for summer.

Everyone can use a break from school or from work, but should the highest-ranking person in America get a day off too?

And this week's Politics On Point, Nick looks at the history of presidents taking time off from work, sort of.

(upbeat music) - Anyone else ready for a vacation?

Yeah, luckily we're allowed to take some time off, but what about the President of the United States?

Does he ever catch a break?

Well, the answer is both yes and no.

While there aren't any specific days set aside for the President to relax, they have been known to take some time away from the White House.

And as you can imagine, they normally receive criticism for doing so.

But the practice dates way back.

In fact, our second president, John Adams, left the Capitol, which at the time was Philadelphia, for the longest period of time.

He was away for about seven months In 1799.

People joked that he was relinquishing his position, but he was actually in Quincy, Massachusetts caring for his sick wife.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, even escaped the White House during the Civil War.

During the summer months from 1862 to 1864, Lincoln relocated to a cottage about four miles away from the White House.

The cottage was supposedly cooler than the White House and gave Lincoln a bit of distance from the chaos of the ongoing war, but not much distance.

Lincoln still commuted by horseback to the White House to do his work.

On his ride, he would often pass famous poet Walt Whitman, who wrote in the New York Times about it.

"Mr. Lincoln generally rides a good-sized, easy-going gray horse, is dressed in plain black and somewhat rusty and dusty.

Wears a black stiff hat and looks about as ordinary in attire as a commonest man.

Always to me with a deep latent sadness in the expression."

The cottage provided Lincoln with some comfort from the Civil War and the heat of the summer, and it was there that he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, which would end slavery for millions of people.

Now, the president who has racked up the most vacation days in modern time is our 43rd president, George W. Bush, who took 879 days away.

Most of this time was spent at his Texas Ranch.

You may have noticed a pattern.

Lots of presidents tend to return home or to property that they own for some R&R.

That could be because if they're on vacation, it is up to them to pay for their lodging and food.

No matter where the president goes though, his necessary staff and security tag along and he always travels in presidential style on Air Force One, for safety, of course.

Besides home, another place plenty of president's head is Camp David.

Camp David in Maryland is technically a military base, but it's been used as a presidential retreat since the days of Franklin Roosevelt In 1942.

He nicknamed the spot Shangrila after a fictional tropical paradise.

Here he hosted the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

President John F. Kennedy spent time there with his family too.

And in 2012, President Barack Obama held a summit here with prime ministers from around the world to talk about the global economy.

Not quite a vacation.

With modern technology and communication, it isn't really possible for presidents to escape their jobs.

Nowadays, their trips are typically considered working vacations.

It's like bringing your homework to the beach.

Not as fun, but hey, at least you're on the beach.

(screen swooshing) (spring pinging) - Thank you, Nick.

2024 means the Summer Olympics are back, and this year's Summer Games will be held in Paris.

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.

But back in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, an Ohioan stunned the world with his remarkable athleticism and breaking barriers both on and off the track.

Jesse Owens began his running career early in Ohio and took him all the way to the Olympics where he crushed the Nazi competition.

Mary Fecteau shares his story in today's Know Ohio.

(upbeat music) - Back in the 1930s, sports were often segregated, and Black athletes were not given the same support as their white counterparts.

This is the world famous Olympian Jesse Owens grew up in.

After moving to Ohio with his family as a young boy, Jesse discovered his passion for running in junior high.

And by high school, he was nearly breaking records.

As a student at Cleveland's East Tech, he matched the world record running 100 meters in just 9.4 seconds, and he only got better in college.

At Ohio State, he was known as the Buckeye Bullet.

And for good reason, not only did he win a record number of NCAA championships, but he set three world records in a single day.

But in the 1930s even his status on the track did not entitle him to equal treatment off of it.

As a Black student at Ohio State, Jesse was forced to live off campus with other African American athletes and never received a scholarship for his efforts.

Jesse responded to this racism with amazing athletic success and it reached its peak at the 1936 Olympic Games.

Held in Berlin during Nazi rule, German chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was expecting domination by German athletes and planned to use the Games to promote his concept of German racial superiority.

But to Hitler chagrin, it was Owens who dominated, winning four gold medals and breaking a world record.

Today, memorials to Jesse can be found all around the Buckeye state from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for track and field competitions at Ohio State to the Jesse Owens statue that sits in downtown Cleveland.

Jesse Owens' memory serves as a reminder that the best way to overcome prejudice is to outrun it.

(screen swooshing) (spring pinging) - Such an inspiring guy.

Thank you, Mary.

The legacy of Jesse Owens doesn't end there.

By legacy, we're referring to the impact, influence, or lasting significance of someone.

Owens was once a student at Cleveland's East Tech High School where he honed his skills and laid the foundation for his future success.

His legacy has been the source of motivation for the challenges the school's track and field team has faced for the last 90 years.

For example, starting a team back up just this year.

I recently spoke with student athletes about their training and their connection to their school's history.

Before winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in a Nazi-ruled Berlin, Germany, Jesse Owens started a streak of track and field dominance at Cleveland's East Tech High School.

The boys team won 27 conference titles from 1931 to 1963.

- We have one of the greatest Olympians ever to come from our school.

This program means so much to so many different people.

- Great pep talk.

- [Gabriel Kramer] Michael Hardaway is the new head coach of the East Tech boys track and field team, which until a few months ago had not existed for a while.

COVID-19 wiped out sports district wide and an effort to bring the team back in 2022 was short-lived.

Hardaway revived the team to honor Jesse Owens.

(athletes grunting) - The legacy of Jesse Owens is something that we walk in every day, so it was just amazing that there was no track team.

So, we know we had to try to put the tradition back into what we were doing.

- [Gabriel Kramer] Hardaway makes sure to teach the team about Jesse Owens, as a track star and as a civil rights icon.

- He created a path for us and we have to continue a path the way for the next generation that come after us.

- [Gabriel Kramer] Like a lot of the student athletes on the team, freshman Josiah Mitchell looks up to Owens who attended the same school and lived in the same Cleveland Central neighborhood.

(athletes grunting) - I'm glad his legacy lives in East Tech, it lives in the Central, it lives in Ohio, and it lives in me.

And every day when I come to practice and when I dress up and when I put on that East Tech uniform.

- [Gabriel Kramer] Which features a Jesse Owens silhouette.

- It's incredible, man.

It's really incredible to have his marks on my jersey.

- I wanna thank Coach Hardaway and the East Tech student athletes for sharing their story with me.

Now that we're all looking forward to watching each country's best athletes compete the Olympics, let me ask you this question.

What is your favorite Olympic sport?

Jump over to our poll page to pick your favorite sport to play or watch.

You can choose between gymnastics, track and field, swimming, soccer, basketball, or something else.

And last week we talked about unique dishes from our state.

We wanted to know which was your favorite Ohio food.

In first place we have the Buckeye Chocolates.

About 79% of you said they were your favorite.

27% of you said you also loved Cincinnati Chili.

In third place we have sauerkraut balls.

23% of you voted for the fried appetizer.

20% of you said you can't eat a hot dog without Bertman's ball park mustard.

And another 14% of you said you prefer your dogs with fries, coleslaw, Polish boy style.

Thank you all for voting.

The Paralympic Games will also be held this summer in Paris.

The Paralympics are an international multisport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities.

Paralympian Justin Phongsavanh made history last month during a competition in his home state of Iowa.

He participated in the javelin throw from his adaptive chair.

Ben Kaplan has his story.

- [Ben Kaplan] Justin Phongsavanh is a world record holder and a member of Team USA.

- He's my hero.

- [Ben Kaplan] But his mom, Tammy Shinn, says her son earned that title long before then.

- [Tammy Shinn] But the day that he decided to get out of that hospital bed and keep pushing forward, that's the day, that was our defining day.

That was the day that I knew it was going to be okay.

- It was three days after my injury that I came to the conclusion like, there's nothing I can do to change this.

Those overwhelming negative emotions were not doing me any good.

- [Ben Kaplan] It was at that moment Justin began forging this new path.

- As soon as spring came in Iowa, Justin decided that he wanted to do some type of sports.

So, he got his first throwing chair through Adaptive Sports of Iowa.

And from there he started traveling.

- [Ben Kaplan] And winning.

- [Tammy Shinn] He went on the junior national team to Ireland.

- So, he won gold and the shotput, the discus, and the javelin.

- And the javelin.

- Wow.

- [Ben Kaplan] Which would become his singular focus.

- In 2018, I made my first national team and everything changed from there.

- [Ben Kaplan] More than five years after tragedy, Justin set the world record at the Paralympic trials in the seated javelin throw.

- It was 33.29 meters.

Don't quote me on the feet, we used the metric system.

- [Ben Kaplan] Soon after, he'd win bronze in Tokyo.

Now, he's preparing to make even more history.

- The anticipation and the excitement behind it is palpable.

- [Ben Kaplan] Later this week, he'll become one of the first seated throwers to participate in the Drake Relays.

- Been all over the world.

I've been, you know, it's almost every continent, I've touched every ocean, just competing at the Drake Relays is probably top three.

- [Ben Kaplan] Mom will be there at the stadium.

She says she grew up going to, to witness this next chapter of Justin's story.

- I can't say enough.

Just seeing him in a very familiar place.

- [Ben Kaplan] Her hero at Drake's famous Blue Oval.

- Thanks, Ben.

What's that in the sky?

It's a bird.

It's a plane.

It's Ohio native Superman.

Superman's connection to Cleveland is rooted in the character's creation by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster.

In 1933, Siegel and Shuster, who were high school students at the time, first conceptualized the idea of Superman.

A Superpowered hero sent from a dying planet to Earth.

They eventually sold the character to DC Comics, and Superman made his debut in "Action Comics #1" in 1938.

Let's learn how the city has embraced its connection to Superman over the years.

- [Speaker] Up in the sky, look.

- [Speaker] It's a bird.

- [Speaker] It's a plane.

It's Superman.

- Superman is a symbol of hope of what every man can be.

Any man or woman can be super, simple.

- Superman is a Kryptonian.

He's from the world of Krypton.

The planet exploded.

So, Superman as a baby lands in Smallville.

He is found by Martha and John Kent and raised as a normal Earthling.

And then he started developing superpowers as he grew older.

He started helping people with his superpowers.

Back in the day when I was starting all this, I would ask people all the time, "Do you know that Superman was created here?"

And it was like 50/50, which surprised me then.

And these days it's more likely you're gonna get a, "Oh yeah, I know that."

- [Reporter] And do you know that Superman was created in Cleveland?

- Oh yeah, yeah.

Glenville, I believe - It's common knowledge in the Glenville community that the best friends, Siegel and Shuster, grew up here conceived of Superman here in the neighborhood.

And we look for ways every day to promote and celebrate that.

- So, I'm the founding board secretary of the Siegel Shuster Society.

Joe Shuster is my grandfather's first cousin.

And so we are, our whole goal is to honor and celebrate the creation of Superman in Cleveland, Ohio by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

- Jerry's family lived on a street, it's called Kimberly Avenue and the house is still there and our nonprofit renovated it in 2009.

And there's a fence in front of it with a big Superman S. Joe Shuster, his family moved to the Glenville neighborhood just nine blocks away from the Siegel family.

We put up a commemorative fence around the Shuster property.

The actual house is no longer there.

The fence around it has got all the panels from "Action Comics #1".

- [Speaker] Glenville High School had a newspaper called The Torch.

And so, Jerry had his own column in there.

Joe Shuster got on The Torch, because he was a very good illustrator.

So, Jerry and Joe came up with their own comic strip.

- They would take a street car down here to this very library and they would look out at the Terminal Tower, which is right outside this window.

And at one point they imagined a man leaping over the Terminal Tower.

- [Reporter] Capable to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

- This library is very important to the development of Superman, because this is where they met and had their ideas.

- [Speaker] We may not have a museum in Cleveland, but this library pretty much has a lot of Superman in Cleveland information and exhibits.

- This is actually Jerry Siegel's desk that was donated to the library by his daughter.

One of the co-creators of Superman actually sat at this desk to write the Superman scripts for the comic book.

And that is a copy of the very first appearance of what character was called Superman from Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

He was originally a super villain with a hyphenated name.

So, it took a while to go through a bunch of different iterations of Superman and to come up with a final character that we know and love.

- In the first issue published in 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster outline the elements of the superhero genre that would persist for the next 85 years.

So on that first page, they capture the elements of Clark Kent's Superman's identity, his pro-social mission.

He's determined to make the world better, his powers, and we see his costume, which shows us his identity.

but it also shows the genius of Siegel and Shuster that they were able to outline the entire genre of the superhero in one single page.

- In the more recent movies of Superman, the opening credits when the name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster appear, people in the audience applaud.

- Yeah, it's so cool.

- In Cleveland.

- It's so cool.

- And there's enough people in that audience that know, yes, these guys are from here.

- Yeah.

- The whole thing started with these two teenagers in Cleveland, - [Speaker] And I think that's just a great story that people should know.

- I think all other superheroes aspire to be Superman.

There's no place in this world where a character is more recognizable, I think, than Superman.

- [Speaker] For decades, Superman has always been the defender of the oppressed.

There are many, many stories about Superman sticking up for the little guy.

- People that come from other places like a dying planet of Krypton that you know that if we help them, they can return that help to us make our world better.

I think there's so many values in these stories that we can take away that are still important 85 years later.

It's a story of hope and I can't think of a time when we didn't need a story of hope.

- Special thanks to NewsDepth intern Alexander Samame for producing this great story.

Great job, Alex.

We are so, so, so proud of you.

And that brings us to our final Write To Us of the season.

We want you to create your very own comic book strip.

You can use a template we added to this episode page or start one from scratch.

And next season we'll share some of them for episode one.

Last week we asked you why a healthy diet would be important for academic success.

Let's see what you had to say by opening our inbox.

(screen swooshing) (keys clicking) Landon from Rainsboro Elementary School in Rainsboro starts us off with, "Dear NewsDepth, you can be better at work with a full belly, not hungry, and in a bad mood.

You will be more focused.

Mateo from Springdale Elementary in Cincinnati knows that eating healthy is not the only part of being healthy.

"Hi NewsDepth, a healthy diet is important in school.

You also need a good night's rest.

You need healthy food to be strong.

Also, you need food and drinks, which is part of your diet."

Grayson from Lowell Elementary in Lowell knows that food also feeds your brain.

"A healthy diet is important to be successful in school, because it helps students pay attention in school.

Being healthy also makes you smarter."

Glorianna from Greenbriar Middle School in Parma gets as much energy as possible from a healthy diet.

"I think a healthy diet in school helps us students be successful, because they help us physically.

Also, maintaining a healthy diet is crucial in schools, because the food that students eat impacts energy levels, concentration and memory, overall impacting the ability to learn normally."

And Joseph from Fairfax Elementary in Cleveland Heights knows that your diet can also affect how well you perform in sports.

"Dear NewsDepth, A healthy diet is important to be successful in school, because without a healthy diet, kids aren't able to grow their mind and brain.

It also keeps them in good shape, which is good if you want to do sports as a career."

Thank you all for writing and I can't wait to read your comic strips over the summer.

Over the course of the past year, we met some pretty amazing people all over Ohio.

We met Rosie who testified before the state legislature, Milena, the elite para-athlete, and Brownie troop 70178, who became pen pals and great friends with seniors in their community.

Well, this week is no different.

We had the chance to speak with Bill from Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, who has been engaging in some very impressive medical research and even had his work published in the research journal, Nature Medicine and JAMA Oncology.

Bill told us his research journey started when he was selected to participate in the case Western Reserve University Scientific and Enrichment and Opportunity Youth Engaged in Science Program.

Ooh, that is a mouthful.

This program paired him up with a professor to serve as a mentor.

Bill's mentor, Dr. Berger, was doing work on the effectiveness of certain medications and trying to identify their side effects.

A side effect is a negative and unintended effect of a drug or a treatment.

Bill is very motivated by this type of research, because he strongly believes that people have a right to have accurate information about their treatment.

He told us that he is worried that misinformation can impact what treatments people seek when they're sick.

Bill has worked on research for medications that can be used to treat cancer, diabetes, and even COVID-19.

He developed modeling techniques that mimic how a drug interacts with people in large populations using AI, artificial intelligence.

His research has helped to identify that a number of people might experience side effects using certain types of medications.

Bill wanted us to tell you that it's very important to live with purpose.

Many people face challenges, but if they're dedicated to what their purpose is, they can overcome them.

He told us that he found his purpose in research, because he knows that by creating new knowledge, he can help people all over the world.

This week's A+ Award goes to Bill, a junior at Orange High School.

We want to celebrate Bill's contributions to medicine and research.

We are excited to see what's next for Bill.

Congratulations, seriously, big time.

Okay, the episode is almost over, but we have to make time for News Hound's last story of the season.

It's time for Petting Zoo.

(upbeat music) (dog barking) Hey there, news Hound.

Wait, did you already start your summer vacation?

We still have work to do.

Okay, there he goes.

What did you find this week?

Whoa, it's a story about a giraffe in Oklahoma getting a visit from the chiropractor.

To watch his full story, click the Petting Zoo thumbnail at the bottom of this episode page.

(screen swooshing) (spring pinging) I have always wondered if giraffes get neck pain.

Thanks for that one as always, News Hound.

And that is a wrap for this season of NewsDepth.

Teachers, we'd love to hear how we did.

To share your feedback with us, you can fill out the end of season survey linked at the bottom of this episode page.

And students, you know, we always want to hear from you even in the summertime, and there are plenty of ways you can stay in touch with us.

You can write to us, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code here is 44115, or you can send us an email at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

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

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

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

We'll see you right back here next school year.

(upbeat music) - [Kid] NewsDepth is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(upbeat music continues) (gentle music)