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THE N TACKLES THE DEVASTATION OF HURRICANE KATRINA FROM A TEEN PERSPECTIVE WITH A WALK IN YOUR SHOES: KATRINA’S AFTERMATH PREMIERING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18

A Parent Discussion Guide For A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath Available October 18 On http://discussions.the-n.com

New York, NY – October 6, 2005 – When Hurricane Katrina struck America’s Gulf Coast, she left hundreds of thousands of teens without homes or schools. The N, the nighttime network for teens, takes a look at the hurricane’s devastation from a teenage perspective with a new special of the network’s acclaimed series, A Walk In Your Shoes. The N’s A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath will premiere on Tuesday, October 18 at 9:00 p.m. (ET).

Filmed over the course of one day, just 10 days after the storm, A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath chronicles the changed lives of five friends from Metairie, Louisiana and the enormity of the tragedy through their adolescent eyes. The half-hour special follows the high school students who attended Grace King High School, located just eight miles from New Orleans, to see how they were affected by the storm’s destruction and how they are moving on with their lives. The special features personal accounts from two dance team members who were separated and re-settled elsewhere, two football players trying to make it at other schools, and a teen couple who don’t know how or when they will bridge the new distance imposed on them.

In addition, at the end of A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath, The N will air a call-to-action message, explaining to viewers how they can help the students of Grace King High School and Jefferson Parish Public Schools, in general.

The on-air message will read as follows:
Standard school supplies and school uniform items for the students of Grace King High School can be sent to:
4301 Grace King Place
Metarie, LA 70002
Attn: Katrina Relief

Check or money orders to help rebuild schools that were completely devastated by the hurricane can be sent to:
Jefferson Parish Public School System
4600 River Road
Marrero, LA 70072
Attn: Dr. Diane Roussel

Meet the five brave teens chronicled in A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath:

* Bobby – The 17-year-old high school senior was editor in chief of the school paper and co-captain of the baseball team. He was evacuated with his parents and brother to a small apartment an hour away. Bobby was separated from girlfriend Drew, who was displaced to Hot Springs, Arkansas. He shows us Grace King High, now an army-run food distribution center, and walks us through the neighborhood destruction and into his home as his family salvages some of their belongings.

* Robert – This 17-year-old senior, star football player was hoping to be scouted by Division A schools and receive a college scholarship at the start of this school year. His plans changed, as he was evacuated with his mother to stay with family friends, four hours from New Orleans. Robert’s family will move permanently to a new home, forcing Robert to transfer to a private Catholic school where he must assimilate with a new football team and school life.

* Chris – The 18-year-old high school senior was an ROTC football player who was evacuated with his mother, three hours outside of New Orleans. The apartment they used to live in was under two feet of water and they lost all of their clothes and possessions. Chris must also enroll in a new high school and he talks about how everything he earned at Grace King High has been taken away, and how difficult it will be to adapt to a new place.

* Derecka – A member of Grace King’s dance team, 16-year-old junior, Derecka and her mother were initially evacuated from their home, but returned upon discovering that Derecka’s grandmother was still living eight minutes from New Orleans. Derecka walks us through the destruction of homes and businesses in the area, and explains what it feels like to be on the receiving end of donations, including rations of food from the American Red Cross.

* Darralann – The popular 17-year-old senior, captain of the dance team and student council member, began a new school in Baton Rouge, an hour from New Orleans. Her parents agreed to let her live with her older sister – a college student – so that Darralann could attend the same school as her boyfriend Josh. Darralann talks about how lonely she feels without her friends around and how she must accept the fact that she may never see some of them ever again.

A parent discussion guide will be available for A Walk In Your Shoes: Katrina’s Aftermath on http://discussions.the-n.com beginning Tuesday, October 18. The guide offers parents tips and questions about the episode to use as discussion starters with young adolescents.

A Walk in Your Shoes is a provocative educational series that engages viewers in individual’s lives that underscore the universality of human experience. Each episode of the series provides a glimpse into the lives of new teens, so that over the course of a season, viewers will learn about a wide range of people, places and ways of life. As viewers watch, they discover that there are far more similarities than there are differences between us, and they develop greater empathy for people they don’t know. Online diaries, photos and clips from the show are available on the-n.com, serving The N’s commitment to online and television convergence. Previous episodes of A Walk In Your Shoes have highlighted switches including: a Protestant American and a Muslim American, a girl from Bombay and a girl from Boston, an elementary school principal and a junior high school student and a military school student and a commune resident. A Walk In Your Shoes has won numerous awards, including Parents’ Choice Awards, CTAM Mark Awards, and Media Access Awards.

A Walk In Your Shoes is produced by Dancing Toad Productions, Inc., a company co-owned by executive producer Steven Lerner and director John Chiappardi. Dancing Toad Productions Inc. has also produced Girls V. Boys, Girls V. Boys: Hawaii, Girls V. Boys: Montana and Girls V. Boys: Puerto Rico for The N, and Where Are They Now? for VH1. Their client list also includes MTV Networks, CBS Sports, ESPN, USA Networks and Jim Henson Productions.

The N, the nighttime network for teens, is a programming arm of MTV Networks and is currently available in 45 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite television. The N’s mission is to be the authentic voice for teens and help them figure out their lives with relevant, topical programming on-air and online at the network’s web site www.the-n.com. The N airs everyday from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (ET). The N and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.