Cougar News
Volume 2, Issue 6
Dr. George Washington
Carver Middle School
Principal: Luz Cotto
Inside this issue:
Make your home 2
earthquake safe
CST 2 voting, it was well after 9:30
Earthquake in Chile 3 rain had just turned into a
Ten greatest women 3 decided that it was time to
Athletes
Funny stuff 3 the inside PE field after all.
Brain buster 4
Announcement 4
Special points of interest:
 Earthquake tips
 CST tips
 Who are some famous
women in sports?
 Jokes of the month
 Brain buster
Editorial Staff: 6th Grade Leadership Classes with special assistance from Ms. Zytko
The Soccer Tournament on 02/06/2010
Due to the heavy rainstorm,
the Get Out The Vote
(GOTV) Soccer Tournament
got off to a slow start. On
Saturday, February 6th at
7:00 a.m. it was pouring so
hard we thought it was going
to be a washout. Soccer
Coach Gilbert waited outside
the Carver Middle School
main entrance to see how
many kids would show up for
the game despite the heavy
thunder showers.
By 8:00 a.m. surprisingly
many students had arrived.
Suddenly, Learning Center
Teacher Ms. Ellis got a call
and the tent that Jefferson
HS was going to lend us was-
n’t available. We had no idea
how we were going to keep
all the kids dry, so we all
waited in the front lobby.
Then Mr. Duran, a parent
volunteer from Parents in
Action at Jefferson HS,
brought over a popcorn ma-
chine, hot dogs & buns, so-
das, and bottled water for
the tournament. He had ar-
ranged with City Council-
woman Jan Perry to support
our community event by do-
March 12, 2010
nating refreshments, but
now we didn’t know where to
put it all. Next, the adminis-
trators were concerned about
the school’s liability, because
more injuries occur when
people play soccer in the
rain. They weren’t sure if the
permits had come through.
Thank goodness our PE
teacher, Mr. Harley, saved
the day by opening up the
PE office for the tournament.
He straightened out the per-
mit situation so we could use
Finally, by 9:00 a.m., forty-
five kids had signed in and
about 10 parents had ar-
rived. Coach Gilbert ex-
plained to the students that
it was time to exercise their
right to participate in the
Public School Choice advi-
sory vote, as community
members, before the soccer
tournament began. We re-
minded them that they
should not feel pressured to
vote a certain way by any-
body, but to make their own
decision. They didn’t have to
tell anyone how they voted,
whether it was for Partner-
ship for Los Angeles Schools
(PLAS) plan or the Carver
MS Local Plan. Next, he and
the parents walked the kids
over to the gym to vote,
while Ms. Ellis started heat-
ing up the popcorn.
After the students finished
a.m., and to our surprise the
light drizzle. So the coaches
play soccer! Our Principal,
Ms. Cotto, showed up to
cheer for the first game. Ms.
Ellis and some student vol-
unteers heated up the hot-
dogs. After the first game we
served the refreshments, and
then the second round
started. There were two con-
secutive soccer games and
team blue ended up winning.
Jefferson HS gave team blue
a GOTV trophy and we took
a picture for the Carver
school newsletter. The stu-
dents all wanted to know
when the next soccer tourna-
ment would take place. Some
thought it should happen
every Saturday!
Ms. Ellis, RSP Teacher
Page 2
How to Make Your Home Earthquake Safe?
Here are five ways to plan ahead so that
you and your family will be ready in
case of an earthquake:
1. Check for hazards in your home.
Don’t place large, heavy objects on high
shelves and hang heavy pictures away
from beds and couches.
2. Identify safe places indoors and
outdoors. Inside, use a heavy table in
a place that is away from glass and
heavy bookshelves. Outside, find a
It’s the CST!
C Track students, it’s the CST time!
We all have taken this test every year.
This is a very important test, which
shows how much we have learned
through out the school year.
To help students prepare for the test,
Mr. Miyata and Ms. Ward have a few
test taking tips to share with us:
 Go to bed early. You need at least
10 hours of sleep a day.
 Eat a good breakfast. Do not drink
a large beverage before hand.
 Report to your testing room early.
 Relax and be positive.
 Ask for help when directions allow.
 Read the questions and ALL answer
choices before marking anything.
 Answer the easiest questions first.
 Do not spend too much time on any
one question. Do your best and
move on.
 Be sure to go back to those ques-
tions you skipped.
place that is away from buildings, trees
and power lines.
3. Educate yourself and family
members. Learn about earthquakes,
teach everyone in your house how to call
911, and find out how to turn off your
gas, electricity and water.
4. Have disaster supplies on hand,
including flashlights, batteries, a bat-
tery operated radio, canned food and
water, a can opener, a first aid kit,
 Do not change your answers unless
you are very uncertain about your
first choice.
 Answer every question. Make the
most intelligent guess you can.
 You may use a piece of blank paper
to help you stay in order. You can
slide the paper down to reveal one
row of the answer every time you
start with a new question.
 Find the KEY WORDS or PHRASES
in the question that will help you
choose the correct answer.
 If the test requires you to read a pas-
sage and then answer questions
about what you read, READ THE
QUESTIONS FIRST. By doing this,
you will know what you are looking
for as you read.
 When there are several questions
about the same passage or chart,
look for CLUES IN OTHER QUES-
TIONS that will help you.
 When using scratch paper on the
math test, double check to make sure
Cougar News
medicine, cash and sturdy shoes.
5. Develop an emergency communi-
cation plan. Set up a place to meet in
case you get separated from family
members. Know who to call that doesn’t
live in L.A. and make sure everyone has
the number.
Remember the drill:
DUCK, COVER, HOLD.
Mr. Manalo, Teacher
that you have copied the problem
correctly from the test booklet!
 Always line up the place value
correctly on your scratch paper
(thousands, hundreds, tens, ones,
tenths, etc).
 If the answer does not match one
of the choices, reread the problem,
recopy the problem, and try solving
it again.
 If any time remains, go back
through your answers, but DO
NOT CHANGE ALL ANSWERS.
Only change those you know for
sure that they are not right. RE-
MEMBER, YOUR FIRST INTEL-
LIGENT GUESS IS USUALLY
RIGHT.
Hope that these tips will help you do
better on the test.
Mr. Moriuchi, Assistant Principal
Mr. Miyata, Math Coach
Ms. Ward, Math Coach
Volume 2, Issue 6
Earthquake in Chile
Less than two months after the big
earthquake hit Haiti, an 8.8 magnitude
earthquake struck Chile on Saturday
February 27, 2010. This earthquake is
the fifth largest in the world since
1900. Hundreds of deaths are recorded,
many are still missing, and millions of
Ten Greatest Women Athletes
In the world of sports, African-American
women have made remarkable and last-
ing contributions, displaying a level of
determination, dedication, perseverance
and athletic ability to overcome the odds
and to create new pages in the history
books. No matter the contests, Black
women have been at the forefront of
excellence, raising the level of competi-
tion and many times establishing stan-
dards in sports that once were unbeliev-
able.
The success that Black women have
enjoyed in the athletic arena is an en-
during tradition. Long before Jackie
Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith
Joyner, Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie,
and figure skating champion Debi Tho-
Funny Stuff
Q: Why does the statue of Liberty stand
in New York harbor?
A: Because it can’t sit down
Q: What was Camelot?
A: A place where people parked their
camels
people were displaced. Buildings and
freeways are badly damaged. This
earthquake also set off tsunami waves
and deadly fear across the Pacific, and
thousands of people were evacuated to
higher ground. Many scientists said that
this earthquake has shifted the earth’s
mas, there were the likes of track stars
Louise Stokes and Tydia Pickett, who,
in 1932, became the first Black females
to compete in the Olympics, Lyle (Toni)
Stone, who became the first Black
woman to play professional baseball
“No matter the contests, Black
women have been at the forefront
of excellence, raising the level of
competition and many times
establishing standards in sports
that once were unbelievable.”
when she joined the Indianapolis
Clowns of the Negro American League
in July 1953, and Lynette Woodard, the
Teacher: Where is your homework?
Student: Miss, I lost it fighting this kid
who said you were not the best teacher
in this school
Teacher: How much is half of 8?
Student: Up and down or across?
Page 3
axis, and therefore, shortened the earth
day by 1.26 microseconds.
There is a 99% chance that a big earth-
quake will hit Southern California in
Continued on page 4
first woman to join the world-famous
Harlem Globetrotters in 1985.
Ten of the all-time greatest females in
the entire sports arena are: Marion
Jones, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph,
Venus Williams, Jackie Joyner-Kersee,
Florence Griffith Joyner, Alice Coach-
man, Willye White, Cheryl Miller, Cyn-
thia Cooper. These individuals are
among a distinguished group of competi-
tors who have captured the imagination
of the international community. They
are only a representation of the thou-
sands of Black females who have com-
peted and excelled and helped to make
the world of sports what it is today.
Track B Leadership Students
Teacher: What do you mean?
Student: Well, up and down makes a 3,
but across the middle leaves a 0
Teacher: What is a forum?
Student: Two-um plus two-um
 on
Dr. George Washingt
Carver Middle School

Carver Middle School OUR MISSION

4410 McKinley Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90011 Carver Middle School is to
provide a safe, suppor-
Phone: 323-846-2900 tive, engaging, and challen
Fax: 323-232-5344 ging learning environ-
Website: www.carverms.org ment in order to prepare all
students for academic,
social, and personal success.

"Where Kids Are

First"

The Brain Buster Announcements Earthquake (Cont.)

This month’s riddle:
If a plane crashed on the border of Eng-
land and Scotland, where would they
bury the survivors?
What has a mouth but doesn’t eat, a
bank with no money, a bed but doesn’t
sleep, and waves but has no hand?
Remember to tell Ms. Robbins your an-
swer. If you are the first student with
the right answer, you will receive a spe-
cial prize. GOOD LUCK!
Answers for last month’s question:
 Each is the name of the only man
who took the pear
 The ocean never gets any wetter, no
matter how much it rains
Three year reinspection for condi-
tion of asbestos containing building
materials (ACBM) at Carver:
In March 2010, specially trained person-
nel will return to our school to check on
the condition of any asbestos-containing
building material. A copy of the inspec-
tor’s written report will be included in
our asbestos management plan, which is
available in the main office.
If additional information is needed, con-
tact Rick Henry, Asbestos Technical
Unit at: (213) 745-1450
1240 South Naomi Avenue, 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90021.
Computer class for parents:
the next three decades. At Carver, we
There will be a computer class offered to
have earthquake drills on a regular ba-
parents at Carver MS from April 6, 2010
sis. We need to take the drill seriously
to June 30, 2010. The class will be held
from Tuesday to Friday from 11am to because it may save our lives some day.

1pm. Please contact Title 1 office for Are you ready for a big earthquake?
additional information.
Leadership students