Last month, we told you about Samantha Garvey, pictured here with President Obama, an 18-year-old homeless New Yorker named one of 300 semifinalists in the prestigious  Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science competition.

We were inspired by her story — and also got excited thinking about all the smart teens out there like Samantha who are looking closely at the world they are growing up in and creating innovative solutions to protect their environments and build a better tomorrow.

That’s why we were so into an article we read on Mashable today, which showcased five science, technology, engineering and mathematics competitions open to innovative teens.  For example, the Google Science Fair looks “for the brightest young scientists from around the world to submit interesting, creative projects that are relevant to the world today” and The Dupont Challenge is a science essay competition, which asks teens to explore a believe can help solve some of the challenges of today’s complex world?”

Make sure you check out Mashable’s list: These contests all inspire teens to think critically. Entering can also help you build your college applications, win prizes — and even come up with solutions that can make the world a healthier, cleaner and secure place for us all to live.  And here’s another reason to consider entering: President Obama thinks you should. “When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” Obama said after viewing student projects at the White House Science Fair held on February 7, 2012.

If you could use math and science to solve any world problem, what would you focus your efforts on?

On March 3, 2012, girls can attend an amazing event in San Rafael, California: The second annual Marin Teen Girl Conference. The conference first launched in 2011 after a Marin County study targeted the need for teenage girls to come together to share their experiences and explore their challenges.

“Our hope is to bring together a bunch of girls from the community to talk about things they might not necessarily be able to talk about outside this safe environment,” explained Paris Gravley of Redwood High School, one of the event’s 25 team ambassadors after last year’s conference.

At this year’s event, girls will hear from inspiring speakers such as Lateefah Simon, a Bay Area civil rights leader and advocate for young women and MacArthur “Genius” Award winner. They’ll also have the opportunity to attend sessions on a variety of topics including how to deal with stress and how to handle money.

What we love about this idea is it brings girls together to share their stories and find solutions themselves; it also connects girls with mentors in their community who can help them see the bigger picture and find resources that they might need. Cheers to the Marin Women’s Commission and the 250 teen girls attending the conference for creating an amazing model of support and activism!

If you were creating a teen girl conference, what topics would you put on the agenda?

Valentine’s Day sure was a good time to show and tell the people you love how much they mean to you. But now that February 14 has come and gone, let’s keep that love flowing — including sending a little sweetness out to yourself.

Here are some ideas for ways to spend a day telling yourself that you care, starting from the moment you get up in the morning:

ONE:  Breathe Deeply: Practicing deep breathing for even five minutes a day will reduce your stress levels, relax your muscles, release toxins from your body, relieve emotional problems, boost your immune system, support your organs, strengthen the heart, aid in digestion, and elevate your mood. Find out how to do it here.

TWO:  Make Yourself Some Breakfast: Yes, it really is the most important meal of the day! Plus, the American Dietetic Association says breakfast eaters “concentrate better, solve problems more easily, and have better muscle coordination.” Find out more about how to tackle stress with nutrition here.

THREE: Put Together a Playlist: Just like you might make a mix for a special someone, think of songs that make you feel good about yourself. You know, the kind of song that makes them feel inspired, pumped up, energized, motivated… full of the awesome.  Listen to them on your way to school, or during an afternoon workout. Need some inspiration? See the songs picked by five amazing women.

FOUR: Get a Workout In: Spend a little time in the afternoon getting the heart rate up — and letting out the stress you’ve built up during the day.  Even getting your blood pumping by doing things like jumping rope, push-ups, jumping jacks, and simple weights for 20 minutes a day can give you these positive side-effects. If you need a gentle, relaxing workout, you could try some yoga poses.

FIVE: Get Some Good Rest: And that means turning off your phone. According to a recent study, teens send a whopping 3,400 texts per month just during nighttime hours. Yikes! Try taking the night off and see if you sleep better.

Keep this list growing! What do you do when you need to give yourself some love?

Creative girls: Here’s a great chance to win a free prom package — including a dress and makeup — AND A TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY.

Sephora & PromGirl are hosting The Ultimate Prom, a contest where the grand prize winner will receive an all expense paid trip to New York City with your best friend and chaperone for two days and two nights, a trip to the PromGirl warehouse to choose your dream prom dress from 60,000 in-stock dresses, a makeover at the Sephora store in NYC, the chance to star in your own photo shoot at the PromGirl studio, a make-up gift basket and $100 gift card from Sephora, and $100 cash to use for other prom expenses.

And, here’s where the creativity part comes in: You can further increase your odds of winning a prize by submitting a video on YouTube explaining why you deserve to win. Your video will count as 5 entries. Plus,  at the close of the sweepstakes, the girl who makes the best video will receive $500 gift certificate to PromGirl.com.

To enter, go to the contest website to fill out the entry form. You can up your chances of winning by entering via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. One winner will be picked each month, and the final deadline for entries is April 30, 2012.

We love hearing about young entrepreneurs who follow their passions. That’s why we were so excited to read about 11-year-old Maya Penn.

The tween from Canton, Georgia started her own line of eco-clothes and accessories called  Maya’s Ideas way back in 2008. “I always loved to find fabrics around the house and say well, this might make a good headband or a good hat or something, and then one day I thought I could probably make a shop,” she told My Fox Atlanta. “These are a lot of the fabrics that I might use for my tank tops or my bags, purses, hats.”

On her Etsy site, she sells a wide variety of beautiful, creative items, such as $20 white lace earrings or a $145 “hand knitted chunky neck warmer, accented with recycled green cotton fabric strips.Generously warm and cozy. Handwritten on the fabric strips are positive affirmations of love and peace in different languages.” Her most popular item is a headband with black lace sewed on top, according to an article in Forbes.

Here’s another reason we love Maya: 10 percent of her profits are donated to Atlanta-area charities. “”I like making people happy through my items, but some people may not have the money to purchase my items, so I try to help other people and make them happy through donating,” she told My Fox Atlanta.

For more on eco-fashion, check out our story on the Green Carpet Challenge!

The statistics about teen dating violence are alarming: In the United States, 1 in 3 teens are the victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner.

And yet our society has a long way to go when it comes to educating teens about what is acceptable in a romantic relationship. For example, a 2009 survey of Boston teens found that half of respondents blamed Rihanna for Chris Brown’s attack on her.  And it wasn’t until 2010 that that February was named National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.

We want to encourage girls to educate themselves and their peers — both male and female — about respectful relationships and how to recognize and stop dating abuse. That’s why we made this our cause of the month. Here are five ways you can help raise awareness (including how to educate yourself):

ONE: Take the pledge: DoSomething.org has a great online pledge that spells out what it means to be in a healthy relationship. One of our favorite promises: “To have friends and activities apart from my boyfriend or girlfriend.” This is really important! Do you know that 1 in 3 teens in a relationship report being texted up to 30 times an hour by their dating partner wanting to know where they are?

TWO: Make a statement: You can wear your heart on your sleeve (literally) by creating your own hearts or order the official stickers through the Let Your Heart Rule Campaign. You can also make 1 in 3 dating abuse bracelets to let your friends know the facts about dating abuse.

THREE: Write it down: Petition leaders in the community to honor Teen DV Awareness Month with you (download templates from the official website here). Or submit an essay to your local paper. For more on how to write an Op Ed, read our article here.

FOUR: Get social: Post messages or the Teen Dating Violence Month poster on your Facebook page, Tumbler account, Pinterest, blog, or where ever else you have an online presence. Or, on Valentine’s Day, text both your  friends with tips for maintaining a loving relationship (and how to get help when they need it!). You may want to include the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline number: 1-866-331-9474.

FIVE: Be a volunteer: Loveisrepsect.org will train teens in the Austin, Texas area to be peer-to-peer  advocates. You can also look for opportunities closer to home, like becoming a peer counselor at your school or church.

Keep this list going! What are your ideas for building healthy relationships?

Congratulations to Sierra Alef-Defoe, the grand prize winner in the Teen Impact contest hosted by the Huffington Post to honor teen volunteers. Sierra helped start a charity when she was 11 years old after her best friend died from a brain tumor:  Pink Polka Dots Guild raises money to find a cure for brain cancer.

“Over the years, PPD has held fundraisers from lemonade stands to art expositions to golf tournaments. I have played a leading role in planning and organizing each PPD event,” Sierra wrote in her contest entry.  “The very first Pink Polka Dots event, a garage sale, raised $9,000, and our most recent fundraiser, the fifth annual golf tournament, brought in over $73,000. The guild progressed faster than I ever anticipated. In five years, we have become 40 members strong, and raised almost half of a million dollars.”

Becoming an activist has helped in the fight against brain cancer, but it has also made a personal impact on Sierra. “My experience has taught me that with passion and dedication, it is possible to make an impact in the world,” she wrote. “The determination that Pink Polka Dots sparked in me has carried over to all aspects of my life, making me a driven academic, a competitive debater, a scrupulous editor, and a dedicated volunteer.”

The Teen Impact contest was hosted in conjunction with Drew Barrymore’s new film Big Miracle. Teens volunteers and activists between the ages of 14 and 18 were asked to write a blog entry up to 800 words “explaining why YOU should be chosen as the best representative of your generation’s unique power to do good, plus an optional YouTube video link, photo or video.”

As the grand prize winner, Sierra won $1,000 for her charity, and  a trip to New York to see the movie hosted by Arianna Huffington, pictured with Sierra above.

2012 is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which “establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Clean water and a healthy environment is something we know makes waves with young activists: At the end of last year, we told you about Rachel Beckwith, a 9-year-old car crash victim whose death inspired people to donate more than a million dollars to a cause she cared about, Charity:Water, a nonprofit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Now, we’re telling you about another effort to make us think about the importance of water in our lives: the Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest, a unique inter-generational poetry, essay, photo and dance contest sponsored by the EPA, Generations United, the Dance Exchange, Rachel Carson Council, Inc., and the National Center for Creative Aging.

Here’s the deal: “Entries must be from a team of two or more persons, a young person and an older person. The creative work should express the ‘Sense of Water’ that your team feels for the sea, a lake, a river, a stream, waterfall, the fish and wildlife that inhabit water.”

What we love about this contest is that it both gets girls and teens in touch with nature, but also helps them strengthen a connection with an older mentor in their lives, like a grandparent.  Click here to find out more about the contest, including how to download a contest form. All entries are due on June 1, 2012.

February is African American History Month and a good time to honor heroes who have worked for justice and equality on a national or international stage, including role models in your own lives.

Since 1976, the month has been celebrated across America, and  this year’s theme, Black Women in American Culture and History, “honors African American women and the myriad of roles they played in the shaping of our nation,” according to a site hosted by the Library of Congress.

In line with this year’s theme, we are sharing five quotes from African-American artists, activists and entrepreneurs that we find particularly inspiring. Please keep this list growing by sharing your quotes that you love!

ONE: “Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”–Rosa Parks, civil rights activist.

TWO: “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”–Oprah Winfrey, media mogul and philanthropist.

THREE: “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” –Maya Angelou, author and poet

FOUR: “There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it — for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.” –Madam C.J. Walker, entrepreneur

FIVE: “And in my own life, in my own small way, I’ve tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That’s why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us – no matter what our age or background or walk of life – each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.” –Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, pictures above

Celebrate African-American History Month: Tell us about a role model in your own life!

Around the world, between 12 and 27 million people are estimated to be enslaved, according to mtvU’s Against Our Will campaign.  And that includes sex and labor slaves in the United States. In fact, in the past two years, slaves have been reported in all 50 states.

Here’s how you can help fight back against these alarming statistics: Right now, mtvU and LexisNexis are hosting a contest to encourage college students to create “innovative digital tools that raise awareness of and encourage action on modern day slavery in the U.S.” This is your chance to be creative: Think online gaming, mobile apps and short viral content.

This is a great opportunity for college girls to do something amazing for the world, and sharpen your technological skills. Plus, one winning team or individual will walk away with a $10,000 prize. For complete rules, visit http://www.againstourwill.org/challenge. Entries are due on April 2, 2012.

Hear from one college student fighting human slavery on her campus, then share your ideas for what you can do to raise awareness.