Four local teen dancers who specialize in African hip-hop will take their steps to New York on Jan. 21 to appear on the Show Time Harlem at the Apollo Theater television show.

The girls are members of a dance group known as Phaz 3.

They were among 150 dancers from across the country who auditioned in Atlanta in November and won the right to go to Harlem.

"I am excited about it," said Gwendolyn White,14, an eighth-grade student at Jacobs High School in Winton Place. "Hip-hop is a fast dance with lots of flips and different stuff."

Others on the dance team are Ayris Colvin, 15, and Brittany Cook, 15, both ninth-graders at Western Hills High School, Westwood, and Shawnkia Pettis, 13, a seventh-grader at Pleasant Hill Middle School, College Hill.

"This was the third time they had auditioned to get on the show," said Gwendolyn Colbert, mother of Gwendolyn White.

These four teens - from left, Ayris Colvin, 15, Gwendolyn White, 14, Brittany Cook, 14, and Shawnkia Pettis, 13 - will be appearing on "Showtime Harlem at the Apollo Theater" in New York on Jan. 21. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

"This is a big step for them and they are very excited. ...''

Ms. Colbert said she is busy conducting fund-raisers to get enough money to travel to New York.

She is a hairstylist at A Visible Difference Salon in Mount Healthy.

"We started a hairstyle raffle last week to raise money for the trip. We are selling $10 tickets for the raffle. Winners will get $100 worth of hair styles," she said.

She said the trip will cost each girl $450, and if they win, they will be in New York six days.

To help, call 521-7111.

Verizon Wireless is pushing its Hopeline program, which collects no-longer-used wireless phones, to benefit domestic violence survivors.

The phones are refurbished or recycled and sold. Proceeds are used to buy wireless handsets for victims of domestic violence and for donations to nonprofit domestic violence advocacy organizations.

Ohio customers may donate the phones to the 41 Verizon Wireless stores in Ohio.

The program was started in 1995. Last year, the firm donated more than 4,000 phones and $500,000.

For more information about the program, call (800) 426-2790 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

After two months of rehearsing with selected acts of vocalists, dance groups and instrumentalists, Unreleased, a benefit program of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Jan.10-11 at the School for Creative and Performing Arts.

The production will be the first benefit for the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) program, designed to help teenagers cope with and resist social and peer pressures to become sexually active at early ages.

"Eventually, Unreleased will be a communitywide invitation to Cincinnati teens to express and define themselves publicly, truthfully and artistically,"said Chris Kraus, PSI director. "As a community, we have a responsibility to promote the creative strengths of our adolescent citizens. They have much to say, and we adults have much to learn from them."

Talented young artists and acts will compete for cash and other prizes.

PSI is a partnership between Cincinnati Children's and Cincinnati Public Schools.

Allen Howard's "Some Good News" column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.