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.