2014 Paralympics

    The 2014 Paralympics begin today (3/7)!  These Olympics are just as important as the Winter Olympics.  In fact the Paralympics is just like the Winter Olympics except the Paralympics are for disabled people!  These athletes work just as hard as any other athletes.  

There is a long history to the Paralympics.  The purpose of sports for disabled people was to help the many injured World War || veterans.  In the opening ceremony of the 1948 London Games, Dr. Ludwig Guttman organized the first competition for wheelchair athletes called the Stoke Mandeville Games.  This included 16 injured servicemen and women from World War ||.  These games became known as the Paralympics.  The first Paralympics were held in Rome, Italy in 1960.  400 athletes from 23 countries participated.  Finally, in 1989, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was founded as the global governing body of the Paralympics.

Many hard-working athletes participate in the Paralympics.  Heath Calhoun is an alpine skier.  His father & his grandfather served in the military so he joined the military.  In 2003,  Calhoun got severely injured when an explosive hit his military vehicle.  His legs had to be amputated.  Heath learned about an organization called the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and through it, he learned skiing.  In 2006, he began ski training with the USOC Military Program.

5 sports are in the Paralympics.  There are 72 events that you can get medals in.  34 events for men, 34 events for women, and 4 events mixed.  That means 216 medals will be awarded in all!    692 athletes are participating.  The Paralympics last for nine days.

The Paralympics are going to be very exciting.  Who do you think will win?  Who are you voting for?    

Spring Parent/Teacher/Student Conference Agenda

Click this link to view the master Conference Google Doc

A Tragic Situation

By Anika Chinthakunta

`    What are you doing right now? Whatever you are doing, picture yourself in the Ukraine right now. When I pictured myself in the Ukraine, I saw myself arguing and fighting for freedom against Russian and Western Europe domination.

Just so we are on the same page, Ukraine is a small country that borders Russia on the west side. Well actually, Ukraine might not be a country anymore. This is because Russia and Western Europe wants to take the Ukraine for themselves. For a while now, people from the Ukraine have been fighting with Russia and Western Europe for it’s independence from the two countries. Many people were killed like police officers and citizens. The war became crueler and harsher as it continued. With all this commotion going on, something that really lost power to Ukraine was that their president, Viktor Yanukovich, had fled. With their president gone, the Ukraines lost power against the Russians and Western Europeans because without a president or government they would have no plan to fight. As the war continues, who knows what will happen, but do you think the Ukraine will be a nation tied to Russia, Western Europe or neither?

Endangered Animals By: Sohan       Have you ever thought about all the different types of pollution we are making? Because of all this pollution, there are many animals in the world that are  critically endangered. Three of these critically endangered species are the Leatherback Turtle, the Sumatran Elephant, and the Cross River Gorilla.                                        The Leatherback Turtle has been around for 100 million years, but is now facing extinction. There may as little as 2,300 adult leatherback turtles in all of the world’s oceans together. Leatherback turtles can be up to 6 feet long. They can weigh up to 500 pounds and have white spots on their dark colored shell. Leatherback turtles are the world’s largest sea turtles. The main reasons for the leatherback turtles dying out are: habitat loss, wildlife trade (poaching), climate change, and pollution. Leatherback turtles are being forced to adapt to new conditions because of pollution and other reasons. Some turtles cannot cope with these new conditions, so they die. Others are poached for their eggs and meat.                                                          There are only about 2000 Sumatran elephants in the world. These elephants are found mainly on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Their numbers are diminishing mainly because of deforestation for palm oil plantations. They have already lost 80% of their natural habitat. There is also the problem of poachers. The male elephants have tusks, but the females rarely do. Poachers hunt these elephants for their ivory tusks. These elephants are herbivores (which means that they eat only plants), so the deforestation is affecting them. These elephants are usually very strong, so they have only one main predator, the Sumatran tiger.                                              Cross River Gorillas have been very hard for scientists to study until the last decade. These gorillas stay away from humans and live in rugged areas. There are only about 300 of these gorillas and they are spread out into about 11 different groups. There habitat is about 3000 square miles big and it is spread out over the African countries Cameroon and Nigeria. That might seem like a lot, but it is only the size of two Rhode Islands side by side. The main cause of such a small population is poachers. Humans are also clearing their habitat for fields for agriculture. The loss of even a few of these gorillas would be disastrous with such a small population.                                 All of these animals are critically endangered. It would be great if these small populations could grow back into what they were. To help with this, some zoos keep some of these endangered species to make sure they are not deliberately killed. Do you support this or are you against this? What can people do to save some of these species? Please respond in your comment. And remember, anybody can make a difference to help save these species.

The Polar Vortex

By Kaasha Minocha

Brrrr! It sure has been cold these days. This weather condition can be explained by the polar vortex that has spread through the mid-atlantic, southern, and eastern region. The freezing temperatures have highly affected millions of people from going to school, work, classes, and stores.   

The Polar Vortex has impacted millions of people throughout the country;  There have been school cancellations, government office shutdowns, and public transit standstills.  In Atlanta, Parents came to pick up their kids  from school and, because of the amount of snow,  parents couldn’t reach them. Students had to stay the night in school. The weather forecasters should have predicted that a storm was imminent and that students shouldn’t attend school nor their parents attempt to travel the roads.

    The polar vortex is mainly located in Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Detroit. It has also hit area’s such as the northern atmosphere near Canada’s Baffin Island, and northern Siberia. This year, players from the National Football League had to play in this horrible condition. As a result, they were possibly exposed to Hypothermia.  Hypothermia is a dangerous medical disease. Normally hypothermia happens when your body loses heat faster than it can replace it.

    There are many interesting consequences that have resulted from the Polar Vortex. For example, over 1,000 flights have been cancelled or delayed because of it. Flights have been cancelled or delayed because it is blurry to see and plane wheels are wet so it is very slippery. Isn’t it strange that here in California it is completely dry?   We sure could use some of that rain and snow!

    The Polar Vortex has inflicted a lot physical damage and inconvenienced many lives throughout our nation.  We need to consider why we are experiencing such severe weather and if we somehow as a national society can come up with solutions to prevent further destruction.  

Some people think the major cause is global warming. Global warming is an increase in the earth's  moderate  meteorological temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate.

     

Levi Strauss Stadium

by Shriansh Chari

You probably know the San Francisco 49ers, the NFC team of the Bay Area (the AFC team being the Oakland Raiders) are saying farewell to the old Candlestick Park, and moving to a new stadium. The stadium is called the Levi Strauss Stadium, on Tasman Drive. Levi’s Stadium is near California’s Great America, on the other side of San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail. You are wondering, who was Levi Strauss? What made him special? Levi Strauss was a miner in the Gold Rush who, like most others, didn’t find much gold. He noticed that miners needed stronger pants. He experimented with different materials for pants, until he found denim, working with a customer, Jacob Davis. Now, back to the stadium. The new stadium will feature open pedestrian plazas, commercial community space, a 49ers team store, and a 49ers Hall of Fame. Levi’s Stadium will be more technological and airy. Although Levi’s can only seat 68,500 people while Candlestick can seat 69,900 people, there will be  gigantic fascia scoreboards and more parking spots. There will also be more elevators and escalators, and a green roof with plants and solar panels, and clubs and bookable suites in which you can watch the game. There are also lots of concession stands. Levi’s Stadium is not just meant for football. It can also be used for soccer, motocross, concerts, and civic events. It will also be the stadium for Super Bowl L (50). It will begin to be used in August. I want to go to visit the Levi’s stadium as soon as possible, because to me, the info sounds intriguing.

Ready for Sochi?

Who is going to the Olympics? How good are the athletes? Here is the answer to all those questions.

The opening ceremony is on February 6 or 7. The closing ceremony is on February 23. 2,500+ athletes from 84+ nations will go to the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. Sochi, Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria were competing of where to hold the Olympics, but Sochi won the bid. The Olympics consists of 98 events in 7 sports. In this Olympics, the women's ski jump is happening for the first time. Here are some famous athletes.

The workers payed $50 billion to build Fisht Olympic Stadium. The stadium can seat upto 40,000 people!

One of the talented figure skaters is Gracie Gold. She is only 18! She is the 2014 U.S. National champion, and won a silver medal in the 2012 Junior Olympics. She lives in Springfield, Missouri. She was fourth on beginner level in 2010 in America. In the 2012 Junior Olympics, her luggage was delayed by two days, but luckily, not her skates.

Another athlete is Sarah Hendrickson. She is a ski-jumping world champion. One day, she was ski-jumping, and she got a knee injury. Hendrickson is a little older than Gracie Gold. Gold and Hendrickson are first time comers.

Bode Miller is an Alpine skier. He won 5 medals so far, one gold, three silver, and one bronze. He was disappointed because he got eighth place this time.

Polina Edmunds is a figure skater from Mitty High School. She was born in Santa Clara, and lives in San Jose! Archbishop Mitty High School is just one mile away from school!

Get your TV ready to watch the Olympics. Who is going to win? Will Gracie Gold win a gold medal just because it's her last name?  

                        

SUPER BOWL XLVIII

The moment had finally arrived-- the Super Bowl was held in New Jersey on February 2, 2014 the Seahawks from Seattle were to play against the Broncos from Denver at the Metlife Stadium. Peyton Manning is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos and Russel Wilson is the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks won the toss and elected to kick off to the Broncos. The football game was between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).Kickoff started at 6:32 pm. This was exciting to watch. During the game the Broncos snapped the football when the quarterback was not ready. Unfortunately the football flew into the end zone and the Seahawks automatically got 2 points. This game had the quickest number of points scored in football history. This was the first Super Bowl played outdoor in a cold-weathered city. The Broncos trailed 22-0 at halftime and 36-0 during the end of the 3rd quarter. Many people got injured badly and even broke some bones! The Seahawks got many fascinating touchdowns. The Denver Broncos threw 2 interceptions and had several fumbles. At the end of the 4th quarter the Broncos were not happy at all with the final score 43-8. The Broncos had 8 and the Seahawks had 43. The Seahawk fans were ecstatic that their team that they were hoping for won! Which team did you go for? What did you predict the score will be at the end?

Happy New Year!

By Michelle

      Happy New Year! The New year is a way to celebrate a brand new year and it is a very exciting event for people around the globe. New Year's Day is observed on January 1st, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in the Roman Empire since 45 BC. With the expansion of Western culture to many other places in the world during recent centuries, the  Gregorian calendar has been adopted by many other countries as the official calendar, and the 1st January date of the New Year has become global, even in countries with their own New Year celebrations on other days (such as Israel, China and India). In the culture of Latin America there are a variety of traditions and superstitions surrounding these dates as omens for the coming year. The most common modern dates of celebration are listed below, ordered and grouped by their appearance relative to the conventional Western calendar. During the New Year celebrations held in Dubai to mark the start of 2014, the world record was broken for the most fireworks set off in a single display. This display lasted for six minutes and saw the use of over 500,000 fireworks. Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on December 31st (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of January 1st (New Year’s Day). Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays. Where did you go for the new year? Did you visit friends?

   

The Grammy Awards

By

Isabella Kerba

           Today Sunday January, 26, 2014 is a very exciting day for musical artists and their fans. Today is the 56th annual Grammy Awards. Something unusual this year is that there is a mix of new artists such as Lorde and Kendrick Lamar and old artists such as Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney. Jay Z leads the list of nominees with nine nominations, and Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams are not far behind with seven each. Stars like Bonnie Raitt and Lorde have already started celebrating because they got nominated in major categories. There are also some familiar faces, like Katy Perry, Pink, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift all hoping to win a gramophone trophy. Who will walk away as a winner on Sunday? Spotify made its own predictions based on song and album streams and came up with "Radioactive," Imagine Dragons for Record of the Year but New Zealand songstress Lorde had a really big hit with "Royals" last year and is in a good position to win. Spotify predicts "The Heist," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis as winner of Album of the Year even though Daft Punk’s "Random Access Memories" made a hit in 2013 and has a shot at winning this award. Spotify predicts that Best New Artist will also go to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Song of the year goes to the actual songwriters, while record of the year rewards go to the singer. This year both “Just Give Me a Reason" and "Same Love” have an equal chance of winning Song of the Year. No matter who wins on Sunday, it’s a big honor even to be nominated for the Grammys. The Grammys are not just about the prizes. It is also fun watching the celebrities in their fashionable outfits on the red carpet and the performances are also a big part. A performance to look forward is a duet between Beyonce and Jay Z and another performance starring Madonna. There's really no way to tell who will take home awards until the winners are announced today. It's all up to the Recording Academy's voters, but it is fun to make some guesses. Who do you think will win the gramophone trophies?

Entering 2014 with........Movies!? By Anisha Saboo

           Movie Directors have been up to their fingertips in business this year!! Last year, Disney's new movie, Frozen, and The Hunger Games, Catching Fire made thanksgiving history in the movie hall of fame, Frozen crew making $93,000,000 and the Hunger Games, Catching Fire making $110,000,000. But that was last year. This year, some of the coming PG movies are The LEGO Movie coming out on February 7, The Nut Job coming out on January 17, The Muppet's Most Wanted coming out on March 21, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman coming out on March 7. The LEGO Movie is about an ordinary Lego man who thinks life is awesome, but then suddenly he is chosen to save the world, when there is nothing he knows he can do. The LEGO Movie is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The Nut Job is about a Naughty squirrel, who is not an ordinary color, but after being forced out of his town, he must find a way to win back his 'almost extinct' favorite food----- nuts. The squirrel and his gang must break in and sacrifice their lives, to get those needed nuts. The Nut Job is directed by Peter Lepeniotis. Disney's Muppet's most wanted is a terrific sequel to all of the other Muppet's movies. Muppet's most wanted is about The Muppet's on a grand tour wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit The Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick. The Muppet's Most Wanted is directed by James Bobin. Walking in dinosaurs is a movie about the creatures that first lived on Earth, you have to imagine you are in the life and era of Dinosaurs, and about how a young dinosaur discovers how to lead in his own way, and learned to have faith in himself. Walking with Dinosaurs was directed by Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale. 

Do you want to watch or have watched any of these movies?? If so, Which one?? Do you think you are going to, or did you enjoy this movie??   

Click here to watch the official trailer Frozen.

Click Here to watch the official trailer of The Nut Job.

Click here to watch the official trailer of The LEGO Movie.