Eye on Academies

By John Gehring

Oakland, Calif.

On a warm spring morning when most restless teenagers would rather be anywhere but inside a windowless classroom, 16-year-old Tatiana Scott seems content at her keyboard.

A sophomore at Fremont High School here, Scott attends one of the state's oldest career academies. Along with academic subjects that will prepare her for college, she is enrolled in a media academy where she learns about newspaper, television, and radio journalism.

"Here you are working on your future, instead of just wondering what you're going to do," Scott says as she uses her computer to lay out the front page of a mock newspaper. "The...