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PAGE 10A i - FORSYTH COUNTY news - Thursday, March 11,20Q4 Wacky Facts M \ \UJ FOtotterßox ] ■ Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first w'A WFaX .»I I ftft Bal / / I— / “When I look back, acting and (dreaming of) woman elected to Congress, in 1916. \\ \\ \\ \l I I rw® /( ~) attending the Oscars were just not a part of my life. ■ C ondo leezza Rice is both the first African- \Vk\\ \ \ \V \ I c' / A /W/ I’m the daughter of immigrants. ... American and the first woman to be national security \\\\\\\ \\ I / / / A / // We barely ever went to the movies ” jgWM adviser She advises President Bush on foreign and \\k\\\\ J ft I ( 7 .ffCFAgff/ - Renee Zellweger, in InStyle. Zellweger defense policy. World Almanac for Kids \ \\__a \. —\ \ »s' I \ I L/ / won an Oscar for best supporting actiess. - - Copyright 2004 Chicago Tnbun« I \ I Ownbuted by Knight Riddat'Tnbuna ft „ I. KIuLJIL! I JLU 1 J_ 11 z 'i'‘' iffe- ».l H I ttffwflWxa ■ I ■ . V i Ivl i .•& tIW I Jkzrftj !•/ • ■ LuU iftfilaJK BLfi.J. WttrYT! .ft -i.s- * w'w'nlft < . bISMBi ! I I j ft 1 I fTTVnnfflll C..'E T WKS By Mary Beth Brf.ckexrhx.e Knight Ridder Newspapers Being taken from home to foster care is unsettling enough. Having to pack your belongings in trash bags or cardboard boxes just makes the move more difficult. Katy Carpas knows what that’s like, and she wanted to ease the pain of upheaval for other children. So Katy, an eighth-grader who used to be a foster child, donates oversized, colorful tore bags to Summit County (Ohio) Children Services for dis tribution to children moving into foster homes. The bags are big enough to hold many of the children's belongings, and each contains toi letries. school supplies and a stuffed animal —a few items to make the children feel more com fortable during the transition to foster care. So far she has donated 32 bags, with another 100 almost ready to go. The 14-year-old undertook the project to fulfill a requirement for her confirmation class at St. Hilary Parish in Fairlawn. Ohio, but the impetus came from her experience as a foster child before her adoption four years ago by Fairlawn residents Nick and Jackie Carpas. "I wanted to do this to help other kids who were being moved feel that someone cared about them." she said. Still, the project was never intended to be so extensive. When it started in June. Katy’s plan was to sew bags w ith help from some other people. Then one day. she and her mother happened upon zippered bags for 87 cents at the local store Marc’s and. knowing they couldn't duplicate them for that price, they snapped some up. They mentioned the project to an employee at the store, w ho told them how to contact owner Marc Glassman to request a donation. So Katy composed a letter to him. “I know what it feels like to be taken from my home,” she wrote. "That is what happened to me six years ago. It was a scary moment. I remember the social worker giving me a paper grocery bag to put mv things in." Illi I Illi 111 Rips fc Raves Helmet head F Sometimes your precious noggin Br needs a helmet for protection. If you’re heading to the slopes this spring break or are a stunt-crazy skateboarder, helmet wearing is a little a more appealing with these too-cool Helmet Headz. Made by a company in Boulder. Colo.. Helmet Headz turn traditional ■Sgt. ' ■ headgear into an edgy fashion state- ment. Make yourself into a snow ■EI? UK princess or a unicorn. Or cop some ' w att * tu<^c a puffer fish or a red spik kA er ttelmet Headz come in 16 styles ’iZ Wl, h ranging from about $25 to ' wKZK Serving the North Georgia Poultry Industry and helping the environment by recycling poultry by-producte into useful feed ingredients. Teenager collects gifts to help children in foster care Katy faxed the letter from a neighbor's house, then she and her mother left for a trip to the bookstore. They no sooner had arrived than Katy's father called to report that the company already had committed to donating another 100 bags, which were ready for Katy and her mother by the time they reached Marc’s. Family members and friends have supplied items to pack in the bags so much, in fact, that Jackie Carpas said stuff was piled everywhere in the Carpas house. And the project keeps growing. A marketing class at Copley High School, taught by Katy’s cousin. Diane Ashcraft, decided to take it on as a community service pro ject. The class "went wild” over the project. Jackie Carpas said, donating l(X) notebooks and committing to 1(X) stuffed animals. The Carpases have stocked up on school-supply boxes and small photo albums to include in the bags, and they intend to buy mittens and scarves. Katy also plans to take letters to hotels, requesting donations of small toiletries, and to businesses, asking for school supplies. Katy's supporters are so eager to continue the project’ that the Carpases say they probably will keep supplying bags. They’re thinking of expanding the project by send ing goodies to Children Services periodically for the children who live on site, rather than in foster homes, Jackie Carpas said. Katy knows the bags aren’t a substitute for the one thing she wanted most when she was in foster care: a family. But it’s away of sharing with them some of the caring that families are made of. 111 Illi I Illi | ’ Help! ~| Family is really embarrassing DEAR AMERICAN GIRL: M\ family DEAR AMERICAN GIRL: My friend gave always embarrasses me. Yesterday, my me a nickname I don 7 like. Mv other sisters knocked over a display of shoes at UKr friends use it a lot. I’ve tried many ways the mall. My dad tells stupid jokes J to get them to quit, such as ignoring it and whenever my friends are over. What / telling them 1 won't answer to it. What should I do? —Embarrassed should I do? No Name Please • When your dad or sisters do some- |B|L J ■ Your friends may not understand how thing that makes you want to run and r much the nK 'kname bothers you. Tell hide, remember three things: 1. V them! One at a time, tell each girl why the Nobody's family is perfect. VWBBBRSMSBRSBTI name bothers you and ask her Every kid feels just the way you [ to use your real name True do sometimes. 2. Friends like friends should respect your feel- you for who you are not for what your family ings and drop the nickname. If they don't, go is like. 3. Your family’s little faults are much more right on ignoring it. No girl has to answer to a noticeable to you than they are to anyone else. If name that isn’t hers. you don t make a big fuss about them, chances Visit americangirl.com to get or give advice. are no one else will either. 02004 American gm. llc. ah ngst* They've come home to find bags of stuffed animals waiting for them, she remembered. “We thought it was just going to be us." she said. "It took on a life of its own." Katy's first donation drew a bit of attention at Children Services. Staff members, includ ing Executive Director Joseph White, turned out to thank her and take her picture. “They were pretty excited," Nick Carpas said. Johns Creek is proud to sponsor the Newspapers in Education program as part of its ongoing commitment to the youth ■■ of Forsyth County. lQ|n|g (QRWK* E In The News ■ Putting kids to the test | I 4 4 T Kids at Garfiekl/Franklin fiOSt StlGB Elementary School i-i Muscatine, lowa, finished their state tests on Feb. 20. Teachers sp< nt months getting students ready. "A lot of people feel stress,” says Molli Lippelgoes, 9. "But if you just put youi mind to it. it's not that hard " J Kids have been spend- ft mg more tune on fill-in- ft # the-bubble tests. That's ■ because in January 2002. ® President George W. Bush ®* signed the No Child Left ft . Behind Act. ,J? el ™ say * that , by 2005, public-school kids in grades 3 through 8 must take reading and math tests each year. Some schools are already giving those tests. Each state decides what its students must know. MAKING T HE GRADE The tests are used ■< > show how well students and schools are doing. If students don't do well enough, their schools must make changes to improve. Molli's school principal. Jan Collinson, says that changing the math program helped give kids' test scores a big boost. "We were amazed at the things we weren't teaching before the test." she explains. THE PRICE OF SUCCESS Some people oppose the law. They worry that test practice takes away too much time from other school work. Other people say that the govern ment should give schools more money to buy test ing materials and to train teachers. People don't all agree about the tests, but kids still have to take them! If you've been practicing, you should be fine. Just take a deep breath, relax and keep your pencils sharp. BY THE NUMBERS 93,000: Approximate number of U.S. public schools 30,000: Approximate number of U.S. public schools that didn't make enough progress in the 2002-2(X)3 school year 20: Number of states meeting the law’s reading and math testing requirements this school year 31 percent: Fourth-graders in U.S. public schools who read at or above grade level 32 percent: Fourth-graders who can do math at or above grade level 2013-2014: The school @year when all students afe expected to test at grade level in reading and math Elizabeth Winchester SOURCES EDUCATION WEEK U S / \ DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Are tests bs. I the best 11 inwJSm way to I \ show how iflM / \ kids and ( 111 / /k \ schools /// / // \ \ are doing? 1] ( fir / U \ . II I C 2004 Time Inc All II V w——A Ll^* a Rights Reserved u \ "Tw u3H t,me for kids and \ I Timetorkids com are marie VwlJ registered trademarks iBHM GUQlielmo krt VO] of Time Inc e