education reporter lee ann melendez follows up. >> so i'm going to take your blood pressure. >> el cerrito high has a healthcare center for its students, mental health services and enrichment programs are also offered. >> these people, you can tell they love you, care for you and always there for you. >> jennifer is the center's director. she says if students are healthy physically and mentally it will reflect in their school work. >> we knew if we can create a set of services and connect those services with young people we would support them to do well in school. >> they have tissues when we cry. they are here. they are our shelter. we don't have anybody to talk to at home. >> there are 176 health centers in schools in california. there should have been more. four years ago governor schwarzenegger promised to have 500 of them in elementary schools. >> the schwarzenegger initiative came about when they were trying to pass their own health reform legislation. i think the health vendors would be part of that. >> but the california legislature never passed healthcare reform. then came

reporting, not a single center has been established. abc 7's education reporter lee ann melendez follows up. >> i'm going to take your blood pressure. >> el cerrito high has a modern healthcare center for their students. enrichment programs are also offered. this is the center's director. she says if students are healthy physically and mentally it will reflect in their school work. >> we knew that if we could create a set of services and connect those services with young people we would support them to do well in school. >> they have tissues when they cry. they are here. they are our shoulder to cry on when we don't have nobody to talk to at home. >> there are 176 health centers in schools in california. there should have been more by now. four years ago then governor schwarzenegger promised to add 500 of them in elementary schools. >> the schwarzenegger initiative came about when the state was trying to pass its own health reform legislation. i think the thinking was that these health centers would be part of that. >> but the california legislature never passed healthcare reform. then c

one has been established. abc 7's education reporter lee ann melendez follows up. >> i'm going to take your blood pressure. >> el cerrito high has a modern healthcare center for its student. mental health and enrichment programs are offered. >> they love you and care for you and are always there for you. >> the director says if students are healthy physically and mentally it will reflect in their school work. >> we knew that if we could create a set of services and connect those services with young people that we would support them to do well in school. >> they have tissues when we cry. they are here. they are our shelter to cry. we don't have nobody to talk to at home. >> there are 176 health centers in schools in california. there should have been more by now. four years ago then governor schwarzenegger promised to add 500 of them in elementary schools. >> the schwarzenegger initiative came about when they were trying to pass their own health reform legislation. i think the thinking was these health centers would be part of that. >> but the california legislature never passed he

. education reporter lee ann melendez spells it out >> the indy music duo pomplamoose. you know them. they're the ones in that hyundai commercial. >> there are terms you can get a brand new alan tra for a song. >> so why did they come here? students wanted to personally thank them for helping to collect books for three high schools and a middle school in richmond. >> the book drive started in november and in just two months these four schools received... >> more than 11,000 books from pretty much all over the world. >> so check it out. >> because there are so many, some of the books will now be delivered to other schools. this is how it worked. jeff conti and natalie dawn offered their online christmas album for free to anyone who bought one of the books on the list through amazon.com. you pick the book, send it to the richmond address in the box and the downloadable songs were yours. >> we had a unique opportunity with a generous fan base that mobilizes easily and with enthusiasm. so it's the best way for us to give back. >> it was tyler hester's idea, an english teacher who wanted

. what has turned out to be a huge success. lee ann melendez spells it out. ♪ >> the indy music duo made a guest appearance today at leadership public school in richmond. you know them, they're the ones singing in that hyundai commercial. >> you can get a brand new alan tray for a song. >> why did they come here? students wanted to personally thank them for helping collect books for three high schools and a middle school in richmond. >> the book drive started in november and in just two months these four schools received... >> more than 11,000 books from pretty much all over the world. >> so come, check it out. >> because there are so many, some of the books will now be delivered to other schools. this is how it worked. jack conaty and natalie dawn offered their online christmas albums for free to anyone who bought one of the books on the list through amazon.com. you picked the book, sent it to the richmond address in the box and the down loadable songs were yourself. >> we had a unique opportunity with a generous fan base that mobilizes easily and with enthusiasm. so it's the best

reporter lee ann melendez has her story. >> children playing in the school yard is slowly once again becoming part of the afghan way of life. the 1979 soviet invasion then a series of wars practically destroyed the education system. the taliban also banned girls from attending classes. >> in the last 15 years they haven't been able to go to school. >> major nina is a marine reservist. her job is to rebuild the entire education system in the violent province from setting up schools to establishing a basic curriculum. as the u.s. military secured the area, parents began feeling more comfortable about sending their children to nearby schools. with the help of afghan community leaders, she has worked to convince parents to invest in their children's education. >> at the end of the day the kid needs to know how to read, right? if you want to build anything in this country, you have got to build the literate population. >> she has been successful. in nine months four new schools have been added and the number of students has gone from 200 to 1,000 with girls in the mix. >> so this is a lit

ann melendez, abc 7 news. >> we got that story through youreport powered by youtube.com. if you have a story we should know about, you can upload video to youreport.abc7news.com. don't go away. "7 on your side" is next. >> a woman clicks on the wrong website and winds up with the wrong tickets. can [ female announcer ] every box of general mills big g cereals can help your kids' scho get extra stuff. ♪ like musical instrents. ♪ and new art supplies. ♪ because they're e only cereals with box tops for education. last year, schools earned over ten million dollars from big g cereals. you can raise money foyour kids' school. look for this logo... only on big g cereals. you can make a difference. >>> and welcome back, everyone. the time right now is 6:49. this is a live look from our ballmer cam showing you mount diablo. looks like the sun is just beginning to rise. beautiful shot there. thank you for waking up and spending part of your morning with us here at abc 7 news. surfing the web and clicking on websites can sometimes steer you to places you never intended to go. one woman cl