It's back to school time and time to put all your talents to work and explore the possibilities. Thursday, September 2, at 1 PM, UNC-TV's High School Assembly, North Carolina's only statewide television program for and about the state's high school students, discusses Real Teen Idols in America-right here in North Carolina!

If you're feeling inspired by North Carolina's recent superstar success stories, you're not alone. In fact, more than 50,000 young people audition for American Idol but very few will achieve the singing success of Raleigh's Clay Aiken or High Point's Fantasia Barrino. But don't give up your dreams; just get real! High School Assembly has the lowdown on how you can watch your talents and studies pay off through an attainable alternative.

Every year our nation recognizes talented teens who are both artistically talented and scholastically accomplished through the Arts Recognition and Talent Search, a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. From these talented teens, the NFAA nominates up to 50 National ARTS winners each year to the Presidential Scholar Foundation for consideration in the commission's selection of the twenty Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

While they may not enjoy the fleeting fame and fortune of American Idol's top finishers, the journey to becoming an NFAA nominee or a Presidential Scholar is richly rewarding in different and perhaps more long lasting ways. Meet some of these Real Teen Idols in America on High School Assembly, Thursday, September 2, at 1 PM.

Scheduled guests for this edition of High School Assembly include:

• Uma Sundari Tadepalli-In addition to being named a 2003 Presidential Scholar in the Arts for Classical Indian Dance and receiving a merit award in flute performance from the National Foundation for advancement in the arts (NFAA), Tadepalli is a National Merit Scholar, North Carolina Academic Scholar, AP Academic Scholar with Distinction and was valedictorian of her Jordan High School class in Durham. A Princeton University sophomore, Tadepalli was recently appointed as an Advisor to the Presidential Scholar program by the U.S. Department of Education and studies ballet at the Ballet School in Chapel Hill. 
• William Lee Sturdivant—is a 2001 Presidential Scholar in the Arts from Central Cabarrus High in Harrisburg, NC and won in the Theater Arts/ Spoken category. Since graduating, he’s performed in~London and recently completed production on a play at the Chautauqua Conservatory Theater Company in New York.~ This Fall, William returns as a graduating senior to the University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program.~ His class will be the second to graduate from this University with a BFA in Acting.~The Guthrie Theater, a 41-year-old theater company founded and based in Minneapolis, is a classical theater that strives for artistic excellence through a contemporary vision.
• Christopher D. Schram-Schram serves as vice president of programs for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts from offices in Miami, FL, and Washington, DC.
• David Winkelman, Ph.D.-is a faculty member in the Department of Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts. The School of Music at NCSA is the only U.S. music school with residential high school, college and graduate programs. Dr. Winkleman was an NFAA Arts Level I winner in classical piano in 1982. Among his many performances throughout the United States, he’s played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and at the French Embassy, CAMI Hall, and Symphony Space in New York City.
• Anna Ludwig Wilson-Wilson is director of the Mallarmé Chamber Players, a nationally acclaimed, Durham-based ensemble of 25 professional musicians who perform in small ensembles. She is also a former flute instructor of Uma Tadepalli.
• Jonas Davison - Jonas Davison received an honorable mention in the NFAA 2004 Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS). He graduated with a high school diploma from the NCSA School of Music in May 2004 and is enrolling this fall as a college freshman at NCSA, where he studies flute with Tadeu Coelho.

With an in-studio audience of high school students, this popular program presents issues and topics of concern to today's young people. Broadcast statewide on UNC-TV four times during the school year, High School Assembly is the state's only live, ongoing, locally produced program for and about high school students in North Carolina. This episode's in-studio audience comes from the Bobcat News team of Broadview Middle School in Burlington, students from the Theater Department of Wakefield High School in Raleigh and members of the Choral Honor Society of Chatham Central High in Chatham County. Teachers interested in attending future live broadcasts of High School Assembly with their students should contact Deborah L. Holt, High School Assembly producer, at 919-549-7166 to reserve seats.

Watch High School Assembly, Thursday, September 2, at 1 PM, for Real Teen Idols in America. And be sure to tune in to UNC-TV Wednesday, September 22, at 8 PM, for American Talent. Follow the trials and triumphs of some of the 20 high school seniors-dancers, musicians, writers, actors and visual artists-chosen from more than 6000 applicants as 2004 Presidential Scholars in the Arts. Feel the pressures, expectations and thrills of these diverse, passionate and ambitious winners. These precocious teens balance demands and expectations with the temptations of regular teenage life. From hanging out with friends, to unrelenting rehearsals to a sold-out performance and awards ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, American Talent puts the real in reality show!

The UNC Center for Public Television is North Carolina's 11-station, statewide television network, committed to using telecommunications wisely and imaginatively to inform, educate, and enrich all North Carolinians.

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