Teachers at the Lincoln Center are working hard to make magic happen for Tacoma's poorest high school students.

Seventy-nine percent of students at Tacoma's Lincoln High School are on free and reduced lunch - a marker often used to denote the poverty line in the U.S. In spite of this, the 66 seniors in the special extended-day program Lincoln Center have already won more than $750,000 in scholarship money for college.

"We work at the highest poverty [high] school in Pierce County, and we push them to take really rigorous courses," says U.S. history teacher Nathan Gibbs-Bowling. He says his students have the same abilities as students in other Tacoma schools, they just need more support.

That's why he, and fellow teachers at Lincoln Center are spending their extracurricular hours raising money to help their hard-working students pay for Advanced Placement exams - tests that follow rigorous, college-level courses and that can help students earn college credits in high school.

MultiCare's Cole Cosgrove sent us this fun, tongue-in-cheek press release today, featuring the brand-new son of South Sound/425 Magazine editor Lisa Patterson and local author Jeff Burlingame.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

World’s Youngest Person Born

TACOMA, Wash. -- The youngest person on Earth was born Sunday morning at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital.

Immediately upon entering this world, Grayson Dale Burlingame held the prestigious title of “World’s Youngest Person” for approximately 4.2 seconds – until an even younger person was born somewhere else on this planet. On average, a baby is born every 4.2 seconds, according to world population statistics.

In 2011 at Tacoma General Hospital, 3,048 newborns claimed the title of “World’s Youngest Person,” at least for a few seconds. 

Heads up - Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium remains closed today.

The closure is to let staff continue clean up efforts and get downed tree limbs cleared from last week's storm.

Check online for updates on an opening date.