Sometimes it’s hard to forget that Justin Bieber is growing up before our very eyes. The Biebs is 17 and on the cusp of manhood, so it shouldn’t be as shocking if the teen superstar had an interest in the Playboy Mansion.
It sounded fishy to us, since The Justin is so clean cut, wholesome and not exactly oversexed. That didn’t stop MSN from reporting a story that was also covered by HollywoodLife.com, purporting that the Biebs actually had an open invite to Hef’s playhouse and had become pretty smitten with it.
“He actually has permission to show up whenever he wants, he’s invited to every party and he even visits just to hang with Hef,” a source said, deeming The Biebs “obsessed” with the bunny-riddled estate. However,MediaBistro revealed that the whole story was made up and The Biebs’ rep claimed that he has never even been to the mansion.
The fake story claimed that the ‘Mistletoe’ singer visited the grounds on his birthday in March, and hanging out with Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and his crew left a lasting impression on the teen. The story claimed that ever since the bday hang sesh, The Biebs has been returning to the estate to party with Hef and the ladies.
Hef’s former fiancée Crystal Harris, who left him at the altar earlier this year, even went on record to say that all the bunnies love The Biebs. However, according to AOL’s music blog, The Biebs acknowledged that the bunnies have a raging case of Bieber fever in a joking manner, posting: “So Hugh Hefner says the girls have the fever … Interesting. I’m a teenage boy. Come on.”
Come on is right. The folks that crafted this story are just as bad as Mariah Yeater, who claims The Biebs is her baby daddy.
Sometimes it’s hard to forget that Justin Bieber is growing up before our very eyes. The Biebs is 17 and on the cusp of manhood, so it shouldn’t be as shocking if the teen superstar had an interest in the Playboy Mansion.
It sounded fishy to us, since The Justin is so clean cut, wholesome and not exactly oversexed. That didn’t stop MSN from reporting a story that was also covered by HollywoodLife.com, purporting that the Biebs actually had an open invite to Hef’s playhouse and had become pretty smitten with it.
“He actually has permission to show up whenever he wants, he’s invited to every party and he even visits just to hang with Hef,” a source said, deeming The Biebs “obsessed” with the bunny-riddled estate. However,MediaBistro revealed that the whole story was made up and The Biebs’ rep claimed that he has never even been to the mansion.
The fake story claimed that the ‘Mistletoe’ singer visited the grounds on his birthday in March, and hanging out with Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and his crew left a lasting impression on the teen. The story claimed that ever since the bday hang sesh, The Biebs has been returning to the estate to party with Hef and the ladies.
Hef’s former fiancée Crystal Harris, who left him at the altar earlier this year, even went on record to say that all the bunnies love The Biebs. However, according to AOL’s music blog, The Biebs acknowledged that the bunnies have a raging case of Bieber fever in a joking manner, posting: “So Hugh Hefner says the girls have the fever … Interesting. I’m a teenage boy. Come on.”
Come on is right. The folks that crafted this story are just as bad as Mariah Yeater, who claims The Biebs is her baby daddy.
Justin Bieber‘s rap skills are more or less like an urban legend — or Santa Claus — no one is willing to believe that the kid can rap until they see it with their own eyes. The Biebs popped into a radio station in the City of Sin recently, where he spit a few quick rhymes at the mic, proving that his skills are as real as the hair on his head.
It seems that Bieber stunned the folks watching in the studio with his quick tongue, rapping to the tune of Biggie’s ‘Who Shot Ya,’ as he spurted words about being lost in life, comparing it to having paper without a pen. Even though the 17-year-old pop icon stumbled over himself mid-way, he managed to bring the flow back fairly quickly, clearly loving the attention from everyone in the room — and those listening at home.
“Life is so short, but we take it for granted,” Bieber ‘sang,’ speaking true words as he hopped back and forth between subjects. With his faith fresh on his mind this holiday season, he even took a moment to freestyle about his religion and how it plays into his uber success. “His hand is on my life and my sin just vanished / My filth washes off quick like her fake tan is / I am growing up quick like a grown man is / I’m gonna be set, so will my great grandkids / Swag,” he rapped into the mic.
Before leaving the station, the DJ asked the ‘Baby’ singer whether he had anything else he wanted to say to his adoring fans. His answer? “Bieber swag”… Whatever that means.
Justin Bieber‘s rap skills are more or less like an urban legend — or Santa Claus — no one is willing to believe that the kid can rap until they see it with their own eyes. The Biebs popped into a radio station in the City of Sin recently, where he spit a few quick rhymes at the mic, proving that his skills are as real as the hair on his head.
It seems that Bieber stunned the folks watching in the studio with his quick tongue, rapping to the tune of Biggie’s ‘Who Shot Ya,’ as he spurted words about being lost in life, comparing it to having paper without a pen. Even though the 17-year-old pop icon stumbled over himself mid-way, he managed to bring the flow back fairly quickly, clearly loving the attention from everyone in the room — and those listening at home.
“Life is so short, but we take it for granted,” Bieber ‘sang,’ speaking true words as he hopped back and forth between subjects. With his faith fresh on his mind this holiday season, he even took a moment to freestyle about his religion and how it plays into his uber success. “His hand is on my life and my sin just vanished / My filth washes off quick like her fake tan is / I am growing up quick like a grown man is / I’m gonna be set, so will my great grandkids / Swag,” he rapped into the mic.
Before leaving the station, the DJ asked the ‘Baby’ singer whether he had anything else he wanted to say to his adoring fans. His answer? “Bieber swag”… Whatever that means.
The story is being told about how 17-year-old pop sensation Justin Bieber went to a high-poverty school in Las Vegas, gave a private concert to over-the-moon students and handed a $100,000 check to the delighted principal.
The real story is about what that principal, Sherrie Gahn, has done for and with the students at Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas, where more than 85 percent of the more than 600 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a measure of poverty. Many live in houses without heat, electricity and running water.
What gets overlooked in the story’s telling is that Gahn has been successful improving student achievement because she has not ignored the circumstances of her students’ lives outside class but instead has tried to address the effects of the poverty in which they live.
For those people concerned about standardized test scores, they’ve gone up significantly since she’s been there and worked, through private donations, to help her students.
While many school reformers today say that citing poverty as a reason for poor student performance is just an excuse for bad teaching, Gahn knows better.
She arrived at Whitney about eight years ago and promised Whitney parents that she would help them with their bills — and even help pay college tuition for any students who went — if they would work with her to raise children “of character.”
Here’s what she told Ellen DeGeneres that she told parents: “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character.”
Once, according to this article in Scholastic Administrator, she arranged to have every child in her school receive a pair of new shoes, but when they arrived, most of them didn’t fit. She realized that when teachers collected the shoe sizes of their students, the kids’ were wearing previously donated shoes that didn’t fit.
Here's the video:
In a segment of The Ellen DeGeneres Show airing Jan. 4, 2012, Bieber is shown handing a $100,000 check to Gahn (which was a matching gift to a donation of the same amount from Target) to help her students with necessities, a promise he had made a few months ago. He also treated the students to a private concert Friday.
As one might expect, stories about this subject are heavy on Bieber. This Associated Press story about Bieber’s largesse to the school talks a little while before making it clear that the real hero at that school has been Gahn.
That’s not to say that Bieber’s involvement with the school isn’t worth noting. Whenever one of the super rich hands over $100,000 to a public school principal without telling her how to use it, it is an occasion to applaud. He toured the school, talked to the kids and brought presents. Good for him.
But the real story is how Gahn has raised money, created partnerships with various organizations and done everything possible to help her students and their families with basic necessities and more. Why? Because as an educator she knew her students couldn’t succeed without this help.
And the Scholastic article notes that the need is never filled.
“How do I tell the 251st child there isn’t enough food for her?” Gahn was quoted as saying. “It’s an impossible kind of triage.”
What is also impossible is this: Twenty-two percent of American children live in poverty, and the emphasis of modern school reform ignores this fact. As long as this is the case, educating needy kids who don’t have Gahn as their principal will be impossible.
The story is being told about how 17-year-old pop sensation Justin Bieber went to a high-poverty school in Las Vegas, gave a private concert to over-the-moon students and handed a $100,000 check to the delighted principal.
The real story is about what that principal, Sherrie Gahn, has done for and with the students at Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas, where more than 85 percent of the more than 600 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a measure of poverty. Many live in houses without heat, electricity and running water.
What gets overlooked in the story’s telling is that Gahn has been successful improving student achievement because she has not ignored the circumstances of her students’ lives outside class but instead has tried to address the effects of the poverty in which they live.
For those people concerned about standardized test scores, they’ve gone up significantly since she’s been there and worked, through private donations, to help her students.
While many school reformers today say that citing poverty as a reason for poor student performance is just an excuse for bad teaching, Gahn knows better.
She arrived at Whitney about eight years ago and promised Whitney parents that she would help them with their bills — and even help pay college tuition for any students who went — if they would work with her to raise children “of character.”
Here’s what she told Ellen DeGeneres that she told parents: “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character.”
Once, according to this article in Scholastic Administrator, she arranged to have every child in her school receive a pair of new shoes, but when they arrived, most of them didn’t fit. She realized that when teachers collected the shoe sizes of their students, the kids’ were wearing previously donated shoes that didn’t fit.
Here's the video:
In a segment of The Ellen DeGeneres Show airing Jan. 4, 2012, Bieber is shown handing a $100,000 check to Gahn (which was a matching gift to a donation of the same amount from Target) to help her students with necessities, a promise he had made a few months ago. He also treated the students to a private concert Friday.
As one might expect, stories about this subject are heavy on Bieber. This Associated Press story about Bieber’s largesse to the school talks a little while before making it clear that the real hero at that school has been Gahn.
That’s not to say that Bieber’s involvement with the school isn’t worth noting. Whenever one of the super rich hands over $100,000 to a public school principal without telling her how to use it, it is an occasion to applaud. He toured the school, talked to the kids and brought presents. Good for him.
But the real story is how Gahn has raised money, created partnerships with various organizations and done everything possible to help her students and their families with basic necessities and more. Why? Because as an educator she knew her students couldn’t succeed without this help.
And the Scholastic article notes that the need is never filled.
“How do I tell the 251st child there isn’t enough food for her?” Gahn was quoted as saying. “It’s an impossible kind of triage.”
What is also impossible is this: Twenty-two percent of American children live in poverty, and the emphasis of modern school reform ignores this fact. As long as this is the case, educating needy kids who don’t have Gahn as their principal will be impossible.
Teen pop icon Justin Bieber performed at a private Christmas concert Friday for a Las Vegas elementary school known for providing needy students’ families with food, clothes, money for utility bills — and just about everything in between.
The 17-year-old star’s concert, featuring songs from his holiday album “Under the Mistletoe,” came along with a $100,000 donation to Whitney Elementary School, which has garnered publicity for providing needy students’ families with food, clothes, money for utility bills — and just about everything in between.
It was clear Friday that the mid-December chill wasn’t cooling down Bieber fever. Second-grader A’mya Saulsberry and third-grader Mia Godinez were wearing glittery hair bows and T-shirts emblazoned with teen pop icon’s face as they walked with their grandma to school.
Here are more pics:
“When he noticed how kind we were and how gentle we were, he wanted to come,” Godinez explained, as a Justin ballad fit for a sixth-grade slow dance piped from campus loudspeakers.
After Justin announced on a Nov. 1 episode of “The Ellen Degeneres Show” that he would visit to perform songs from his album “Under the Mistletoe,” the hundreds of students watching the taping from their Las Vegas school erupted into screams and cheers, and even tears of joy.
“For the kids, it shows that someone loves them and cares about them to follow up,” principal Sherrie Gahn told the Las Vegas Sun after the taping. “When you live in an existence where everything seems so hopeless, it’s an amazing gift they will never forget. It’s beyond their wildest dreams.”
Whitney Elementary was first featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in September. The episode highlighted how the school provides a food pantry, clothes closet, free haircuts and literacy training for students’ families.
Gahn said more than 85 percent of the school’s 600-plus students receive free or reduced lunches. The school also has one of the highest homeless student populations in Nevada’s Clark County School District.
Gahn told “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” she made a pact with families after she arrived about eight years ago. “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character,” she said.
Families at the school told the show Gahn has stayed true to her promise. Gahn said most of the donations come from individuals or businesses, and she said the show has brought an outpouring of support. Justin’s gift matches a $100,000 donation from Target that was announced on the September episode.
“My biggest motivator for the kids and the thought and hope that they don’t have to live in this existence when they grow up — that they break the cycle,” Gahn said.
Teen pop icon Justin Bieber performed at a private Christmas concert Friday for a Las Vegas elementary school known for providing needy students’ families with food, clothes, money for utility bills — and just about everything in between.
The 17-year-old star’s concert, featuring songs from his holiday album “Under the Mistletoe,” came along with a $100,000 donation to Whitney Elementary School, which has garnered publicity for providing needy students’ families with food, clothes, money for utility bills — and just about everything in between.
It was clear Friday that the mid-December chill wasn’t cooling down Bieber fever. Second-grader A’mya Saulsberry and third-grader Mia Godinez were wearing glittery hair bows and T-shirts emblazoned with teen pop icon’s face as they walked with their grandma to school.
Here are more pics:
“When he noticed how kind we were and how gentle we were, he wanted to come,” Godinez explained, as a Justin ballad fit for a sixth-grade slow dance piped from campus loudspeakers.
After Justin announced on a Nov. 1 episode of “The Ellen Degeneres Show” that he would visit to perform songs from his album “Under the Mistletoe,” the hundreds of students watching the taping from their Las Vegas school erupted into screams and cheers, and even tears of joy.
“For the kids, it shows that someone loves them and cares about them to follow up,” principal Sherrie Gahn told the Las Vegas Sun after the taping. “When you live in an existence where everything seems so hopeless, it’s an amazing gift they will never forget. It’s beyond their wildest dreams.”
Whitney Elementary was first featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in September. The episode highlighted how the school provides a food pantry, clothes closet, free haircuts and literacy training for students’ families.
Gahn said more than 85 percent of the school’s 600-plus students receive free or reduced lunches. The school also has one of the highest homeless student populations in Nevada’s Clark County School District.
Gahn told “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” she made a pact with families after she arrived about eight years ago. “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character,” she said.
Families at the school told the show Gahn has stayed true to her promise. Gahn said most of the donations come from individuals or businesses, and she said the show has brought an outpouring of support. Justin’s gift matches a $100,000 donation from Target that was announced on the September episode.
“My biggest motivator for the kids and the thought and hope that they don’t have to live in this existence when they grow up — that they break the cycle,” Gahn said.
