At 17-years-old, Calif. native Johnny Strange is the youngest person ever to conquer the tallest summits on each of the seven continents.

After topping the final peak last week, Strange e-mailed family and friends to say: "Never let anyone stifle your dreams no matter the feat, for if you have the heart and the courage, impossible is nothing."

He shouts another message from the mountaintops as well. A sign he carried to the Mt. Everest peak read, "Stop Genocide."

Watch the Katie Couric interview below, or at CBS.

An 8-week-old kitten discovered abandoned and famished  in a mailbox was adopted by a postal worker, and his wife who named it: P.D., for "Postage Due."

"My husband's cat died suddenly over a year ago, and it's been only recently that he's indicated that he might be ready to adopt another cat," Stuart said.

(Read the details on Boston..com)

(Thanks to Pearl for submitting the story on June 22!)

Indiana prisoners are serving as foster parents to 59 cats and kittens waiting for adoption and hoping for a second chance, after the local shelter had no more room.

One inmate, convicted of involuntary manslaughter, said caring for the animals in 8-hour shifts makes him feel better about himself. 

Watch the video below, or watch on NCB here. 

In a city where dropout rates are always among New Jersey's highest and test scores are among the lowest, one experimental school, Camden's MetEast High School, opened in 2005, had zero drop-outs among its first graduating class this year, and a college acceptance letter in each of their hands.

The class sizes are small, educators are called "advisers," not teachers, and they stick with the same group of students all four years. As important, classes are built around the idea that students will learn by following their passions.

(Read the AP story in MSNBC)