Lady Spartans Advance to Elite 8

Congratulations to the Lady Spartans for their hard-fought victory last night in the CYO's Sweet 16! Coach Rawson has led his team deep into the playoffs yet again and this weekend is HUGE for the girls. On Saturday they take on St. Martin of Tours at 1pm at St. Matthias in Downey. A victory Saturday places the girls in the Final Four and assures them of a trip to Staples Center and yet another banner for the gym. After their victory Saturday the ladies play at La Salle High School in Pasadena at 1pm for a shot at their 2nd consecutive CYO Championship Game. Spartan Nation, this is AMAZING and who knows when it will happen again. This weekend could put the Lady Spartans in the same company as the Lakers (87 and 88, 2000, 2001 [the Lakers did win a 3rd in a row in '02 but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!]).

Spartan Nation, you MUST find a way to come out and support these hard working ladies and their coaches. I've arranged for bonus points for all Junior High students who attend the games, so I hope for a huge turnout! Below are directions to both locations from St. Jerome School. Feel free to look up your own routes, these directions are from Yahoo!

Go Lady Spartans!

Saturday 1pm St. Matthias - 7851 Gardendale street Downey, 90242
405 south; 105 east; 710 North; Exit Imperial Hwy EAST (stay on for about a mile);
Turn Right on Garfield (stay for ½ a mile);
Bear left on Gardendale for ½ a mile
7851 Gardendale


Sunday 1pm La Salle High School - 3880 East Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, 91107
Left on La Tijera; Bear Left on La Cienega (North) to the 10 East;
110 North; 5 North; CA 2 North; CA 134 East; 210 East;
Exit San Gabriel Blvd.
Left on Sierra Madre Blvd. (take for about 2 miles)
3880 East Sierra Madre Blvd

Slave Narrative Assignment

Class of 2008, as part of the slave narrative assignment I am asking for you to respond to a few questions as part of an evaluation of the technology aspect of the project. This is a required homework assignment. Please read the information below and respond to each of the questions. All students who respond in detail to the questions AND send them via email will receive two bonus points on their essay.

Technology Goals:
- Understand how to discover information on the Internet about the Underground Railroad.
- Use “Inspiration” program as a prewriting tool.
- Use “Word” to draft, edit and publish a short story.

Please respond to the following questions:
1) Did technology assist you in understanding the concepts of research and the writing process?

2) Did this project help improve your technology skills? How?

3) List any suggestions to help make the project go smoother or to better understand the concepts of Internet research and the writing process.

Spartans Basketball

Congratulations to the Boys' Basketball team as their two victories this weekend assure them of back to back League Championships! On Saturday the Spartans defeated St. Anastasia 46-21 and then beat St. Mark's on Sunday 38-19. The Spartans remain undefeated in CYO play with a current record of 23-0. Please come out and support the Spartans Thursday night as they complete League play against St. Joseph at 6:30 in Spartan Gymnasium.

Congratulations also go out to the undefeated Lady Spartans as they advanced to the Sweet 16 of the CYO playoffs! The ladies play this Wednesday at 7pm at Providence High School in Burbank. I would like as many of the boys as possible to make the game so we will end practice this Wedneday at 4:15 in an attempt to give as many people a chance to drive out to Burbank as we can.

Good luck Lady Spartans!

Spartans Basketball

Just a quick update about this week's schedule. We will have regular practice Wednesday (3:15-4:45). Thursday we will have an abbreviated practice from 3:30-4:15 in the backyard. This way all our parents can enjoy a wonderful Valentine's Day Dinner!

Saturday we play St. Anastasia at 2pm at St. Anthony School in El segundo. Sunday we take on St. Mark's at St. Anthony's gym at 4pm.

Finally, our game for Saturday the 23rd has been moved to our gym on Thursday night the 21st at 6:30pm. It is our final regular season game before playoffs start on march 1. The playoff schedule will not be posted until approximately Thursday, Feb. 28th.

Harriet Tubman at the Forefront

Harriet Tubman is a symbol of strength and leadership in the face of conflict and injustice. he 8th grade will spend the next two weeks learning more about the Underground Railroad and slave narratives through a biography on Tubman, Internet research, and class lectures. At the end of the week students will begin prewriting as they prepare to write a historical fiction short story about a runaway slave.

Vocabulary this week:
third-person narrative (131), Fugitive Slave Law (133), fugitives (133), incentive (135), disheveled (135), guttural (135), mutinous (137), cajoling (137), indomitable (137), fastidious (139)