By Andrew McLaughlin

As you go about your

school day, wandering

the halls, pounding the

classroom floors with

your feet, do you ever

question what’s below?

In fact, most have

probably never even

considered the possibil-

ity that

something

lies beneath

Carson Mid-

dle School.

Many stu-

dents have

heard an

offhand

mention of

the school’s

tunnels in

their clas-

ses, but few have really

given the matter a sec-

ond thought. The truth

may surprise you….

Recently, I was lucky

enough to be able to

take a trip down into

the tunnels, or base-

ment, with Mr. Smith

and Mr. Niven. The en-

trances are behind the

school’s staircases,

which makes almost an-

other flight of stairs

that goes down a level.

Once below, one of the

things that I noticed

(Continued on page 2)

By Brady Crow

Picture this. School

has just ended. You and

your buddies burst out

of the swinging doors

and into the old family

van. Inside of

the car, a

plethora of sun

screens, swim-

suits, and tow-

els are set in

your spacious trunk. It’s

a beach day! Later, you

find you and your pals

looking onto a pleasant

and tranquil shore line.

The humid air and cool

waters comfort your

overworked mind into a

(Continued on page 5)

Sea Monsters

The Tunnels Under Carson Middle School

Summer 2019

Volume 23, Issue 4

Inside this issue:

Digital Animation 3

Fast School Facts 3

Story Pt. 3 4

Chesapeake Bay 4

Dealing with Stress 6

Sleep Deprivation 9

Fun Page 10

Editor: Andrew McLaughlin

amclaughlin2@nastudents.org

Special points of in-

terest: No School—May 21st

Move-Up Day—May 22nd

Band Concert—May 23rd

Student Council Elections—May 24th

No School (Memorial Day) - May

27th

Orchestra Concert—May 30th

Spring Sports Assembly—May 31st

Last Day of School—June 6th

A Trip to the School’s Basement w/ Pictures

E-mail us stories at car-

sonnewspaper@gmail.com

Pg. 3—The Results of the Banner Competition

Under the 8th grade hallway with the science rooms

was the sense of permanence

with which the tunnels were con-

structed. The stairs are wide

and have handrails, and the floor

itself is mostly paved. There is

also enough room to stand up for

most of their length. This could

perhaps be due to the fact that

the tunnels were originally in-

tended as a possible fallout shel-

ter in case of an air strike - a

product of the school’s con-

struction in the 1960s.

Down below, the main, con-

crete-lined tunnel is filled with

pipes that provide the different

utilities needed for the various

(Continued from page 1) classrooms. In fact,

there are more

pipes than are actu-

ally used, due to

many renovations

over time. Breaking

off from the main

tunnel are various

dirt-floored rooms

that are little more

than crawl space un-

der classrooms. To-

day, the tunnels are

mainly used for stor-

age, with assorted

desks, and perhaps

most notably, the col-

umns used for the 7th

grade Greek Festival.

Upon reaching the

area underneath the

auditorium, the floor

surface becomes dirt,

and begins gradually

sloping down. While

previously the ground had been

dry, at this point it became

somewhat moist, with cardboard

being placed over the worst

spots. Strangely, there were

several old toilets stored in

this area! The distance be-

tween the ground and the

ceiling of the tunnel is a con-

siderable distance at the

floor’s lowest point in this

area, at least ten or so feet.

Just beyond was the boiler

room.

And with that we

emerged, safe and un-

scathed, in the music hallway

next to Tech Ed. Who ever knew

that there was another world of

sorts right below our feet? It

really was a cool experience, so a

thank you to Mr. Niven and Mr.

Smith for giving this tour, the

first one since the last article

written on this subject in 1995.

The ‘bowels of Carson’ truly are

an unique place, and I hope you’ll

think of them the next time

someone drops a pencil on the

floor during a test.

Page 2 Carson Chronicle

What’s Underneath Carson...

The underground area near the gym

The apace under the main office

The school’s boilers are under the auditorium stage.

Dirt-floored area beneath the auditorium

CARSON FAST FACTS $5,135,000 to build in 1968

226,008 hours of labor Library started with 1,000 books; it now has over 16,000! 1984— Computer Lab opened; it included 13 Apple II computers and 5 printers ~~~~~

An interesting occurrence found in a 1976 edition of the school newspaper: “ Bees swarmed on the wall across from room 116. An

eighth grader, wearing his bee equipment, picked the bees up and

put them in a hive.” Uh… what?

Volume 23, Issue 4

The Art of Digital Animation

Page 3

Thank you to everyone who

voted in the competition for the

school newspaper’s updated ban-

ner. After receiving 200+ votes,

the winner was determined to be

the 1982 version, with a 35.7%

Results of the Banner Competition

result. In second place was the

1993 edition, which is featured

on the back of the paper on the

Fun Page— it earned a popularity

of 25.9%. For those interested,

the monkey banner got 15.7% of

By Ayan Sheikh

Digital animation is like stop

motion but on the computer.

There are ways to animate in

this style: the straight ahead

method or the pose-to-pose

method. The pose-to-pose meth-

od (Adobe Flash is an example)

is a very efficient way. Others,

like iMotion, use the straight

ahead method. The pose-to-pose

method basically helps plan the

moves ahead of time so you can

edit it and put more frames in

between the main poses. All you

have to do is draw pictures

frame by frame, but it is really

not that efficient, as you don’t

really know how the animation

will turn out until you actually

play your entire results.

Adobe Flash is one of the best

animation crea-

tors for comput-

ers, especially

when it comes to

tweening.

Tweening, a

great time-

saver, is basically putting the

start point and the end point of

the animation; the program will

fill in the remaining frames for

you.

As mentioned before in the

Carson Chronicle, animation is

“the illusion of movement.”

This can be basic, like making a

stick figure

run, or more

advanced.

There are many

online re-

sources (such

as YouTube

videos) that are available to

people wanting to get started

in computer animation. In gen-

eral, digital animation is a

great topic to explore.

the vote, and the handprints re-

ceived 14.6%. The other two op-

tions garnered a very small per-

centage. Thank you to all stu-

dents that took the time to fill

out the survey and share their

thoughts.

By Zoe Jones Previously in the Chronicle: 10-year-old Adalia Johnson moves in to a mysterious new house and discovers an old woman and several children holed up in the attic. Lat-er, she decides it was just her imagination; that is, until she sees a “missing” poster with one of the kids from the attic! Returning to the attic, Adalis has a bizarre encounter with the boy. Our story continues…

The old woman dropped all pre-

tense of welcoming. Her back

hunched over more, she became

thinner, and drool started to

drip from her mouth as if she

were hungry.

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!

HURRY UP, I’M STARVING!”

The children behind her

were still as statues. It was

as if they knew what was going

to happen next. The old woman

started gliding across the floor,

Page 4 Carson Chronicle

Save the Bay! By Christian Gaertner, Andrew McLaughlin, and Maggie Mu

From November 19-21, 2018,

North Allegheny middle school

students journeyed to the Ches-

apeake Bay, where

they learned about the

ecology and economics

of the ecosystem

through various enjoy-

able activities. This

opportunity, run by the

Chesapeake Bay Foun-

dation, took students 7 hours

away to Crisfield, MD, once

called the “Crab Capital of the

World.” From there, half of the

group went to Tylerton, MD,

while the other half took a boat

ride to Port Isobel, VA.

fffTylerton is a remote commu-

nity on Smith Island, where

most of the residents earn their

living from fishing for crabs or

oysters. Known as “watermen”,

they have to be constantly in

tune with the seasons, tide, and

the abundance of ocean wild-

life. While Tylerton is a village

almost frozen in time, Port Iso-

bel is a dedicated educa-

tional facility just off the

coast of Tangier, VA.

Throughout the 3-day, 2-

night trip, students made

lasting memories while

learning

about the bay

and its ecosystem,

which is threat-

ened by the possi-

bility of rising sea

levels in the fu-

ture. Kids explored the marsh,

crabbed, and even shared meals

with the residents. What fol-

lows is personal memories from

the students who went on the

trip.

jjjThroughout the trip I had

fun while also learning lots about the ecosystem of the bay. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is the area of the country that drains right into the bay; this doesn’t include Pittsburgh, but the Chesapeake Airshed does include our city. On both the bus ride there and back, we crossed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a massive multi-span suspension

bridge. With the height of the bus, it felt as we were perched on the edge of the road. The boat ride to the island re-inforced how large

the Chesapeake Bay really is - over 4,000 square miles. Port Isobel was secluded and deeply forested - it didn’t help that our captain told us a story of an old hermit that lives in the area and

(Continued on page 7)

and Adalia was frozen to the

spot in the old woman’s rocking

chair. As the old woman ap-

proached, she unclasped her

pendant from around her neck.

“Look at this!”

Adalia was staring right into

it, and the pendant felt like it

was burrowing its way into her

consciousness.

“Give me your name.”

(Continued on page 8)

The Disappearing Entrance—Part 3

relaxed, summer vacation state

of mind. Suddenly, your friends

spot a shape in the waters. It

scurries toward you and your

pals. As you run to shore, and

the curious beast sinks into the

murky depths, you

can’t help but wonder,

what in the world was

that? In this issue of

the Carson Chronicle,

I have created a top

5 list of the most

dangerous creatures in the deep

blue sea, where they live, and

some other information to bet-

ter protect yourself from these

“Sea Monsters.” These animals

all live(d) in the Atlantic. Many

people will head to the Atlantic

oceansthis summer, so consider

this a fair warning if you ever

find yourself face to face with

one of these sea monsters.

5. Orca Whale (North)

If a great white shark and an

orca whale went head to head in

a battle, most of our money

would be on the mighty

great white, right? Well

if the battle actually

took place, chances are

the orca would not only

win, but dominate. Orca whales

live in all of Earth’s oceans and

surprisingly, they can evolve to

survive in almost any tempera-

ture. The great white shark can

(Continued from page 1) reach a massive 20 feet long,

but they are a dwarf compared

to the gargantuan, 30 foot long

orca whale. Orcas live in every

ocean, so they eat anything they

can get their...fins on. Orcas,

despite being at the top of the

food chain, are dwindling in pop-

ulation. Up until now,

only humans have ever

hunted orcas, yet there

have been no recorded

human fatalities in the

wild. On a more positive

note, the orcas aren’t

just the top predators, they are

one of the most adaptable ani-

mals known to date.

Don’t fear these marine

mammals too much;

they aren’t aggressive

to humans, but still it

would be smart to give

the orca some space.

4. Barracuda (The Caribbean)

The Caribbean is a popular

travel destination in the sum-

mer. It’s a paradise of beaches

and quaint seaside towns. The

turquoise waters are crystal

clear. Don’t be fooled

though, these bays are

the home of a nasty pred-

ator, the barracuda.

These silver torpedo-like

fish may seem to loiter in shal-

low waters. They don’t pop out

as a powerful hunter, but when

these fearsome fish find a shiny

object or other sea creature,

they muster up immense speed

and dart into the hopeless prey.

To avoid these creatures, take

of all shiny objects like watches

or jewelry before swimming.

Barracudas are an aggressive

species, yet they are mainly

scavengers. Like sharks, they

mistake swimmers for preda-

tors, so alert others of the fish

the minute you see one.

3. Torpedo Ray (Atlantic Sea

Bed)

Diving is a popular activity to

partake in when on vacation.

However, if the seafloor your

diving around starts to move,

you may be in for a

shock. (No pun intend-

ed.) The vicious tor-

pedo ray is among the

most dangerous rays

in the Atlantic. One

careless footstep and

the torpedo ray will fire 220

volts of bioelectric energy into

their “threat.” Even though the

rays average 1.5 feet, their mas-

sive shocks can completely knock

down and stun even the most fit

adults. Certain divers may expe-

rience life threatening shock if

they are healing from a cold,

don’t take care of his or herself,

or have certain health difficul-

ties. They live in our Atlantic

oceans, and as dangerous as they

may seem, these creatures

aren’t particularly aggressive.

(Continued on page 6)

Volume 23, Issue 4

Sea Monsters...

Page 5

1. Liopleurodon (The Prehis-

toric Oceans)

We all know about the fero-

cious 60ft long megalodon, king

of the Pliocene seas, but at one

point, there was an even more

terrifying animal in

our seas—

Liopleurodon. In the

Jurassic period, ani-

mals were at their

best. They grew to enormous

sizes and became true kings of

the Earth. While dinosaurs like

Allosaurus reigned king of the

land, Liopleurodon became em-

peror of the seas. The beasts

have been known to grow up to

80ft, yet complete skeletons are

only 25ft. A mystery? Anyway,

these giants were no dinosaurs.

They are related a family of ma-

rine reptiles known as Plesio-

saurs. They have massive croco-

dile like jaws, seal-like

flippers, and teeth as

sharp as needles. The

beasts hunted other ma-

rine reptiles and sharks.

Hypothetically, if one of

these monsters came af-

ter you, take your chances

staying still. Ultimately, climate

change and a change in food

sources made these titans go

extinct. Breath easy about this

monster.

Before I end off the last top

5 list, (this year at least) I

would like to make a formal apol-

ogy. My goal was not to give any-

These little rays live by reefs

too, but lucky for us, they are

only in an active hunting state at

night. If you happen to be

zapped by one of these crea-

tures, it’s probably your fault.

2. Lionfish (Reefs)

Lionfish may just happen to

be the only animal scientists

want to become extinct. These

fish originated in the Indian

Ocean, yet over the past few

years they have evolved such a

potent poison that they can

drive the top predators in eco-

systems to endangerment. Lion-

fish are aggressive, territorial,

and they are everywhere. They

live in any tropical sea including

the Atlantic. However, divers

are working to kill and cook lion-

fish. Once killed, the lionfish’s

poison is diluted,

so eating these

monsters helps

the sea, and ap-

parently, they

taste great. Lion-

fish appear to be

maroon with white stripes.

Swimmers may be tempted to

marvel at the fish’s beautiful

scales and fins, but these fish

almost seem paranoid and can

understand when a “predator” is

in their environment. Let these

fish pass before exploring a

reef further.

(Continued from page 5) one nightmares. I didn’t even

want to make others fear these

animals. The fact is, these pred-

ators are not monsters or horri-

ble mindless killers, they just

are animals trying to make a life

for themselves. In nature, pred-

ators are often

seen hunting

prey. There is

carnage, blood,

and those images make the hu-

man mind fear and despise these

animals. However most of the

time, most creatures in nature

coexist peacefully. We can see

from animals like Liopleurodon

that at one point or another

even the biggest, strongest, and

fastest animals will go extinct.

That includes humans. We may

be the worst predators on this

blue planet. As most of you

know, we are responsible for

placing countless ocean and land

species alike in critical to ex-

tinct positions. So if you find

yourself lucky or unlucky enough

to be around one of these amaz-

ing animals, here are the top 3

things to do.

3. Give the animal some space

and try not to provoke it to at-

tack you in any way.

2. Do not panic and take precau-

tionary measures such as notify-

ing the closest lifeguards or au-

thorities.

1. Stand back and observe one of

nature’s finest specimens.

Page 6

Sea Monsters...

Carson Chronicle

that he once encountered on

Isobel. The activities them-selves were tons of fun and allowed us to get to know stu-dents from other middle schools. One of the most memorable moments was when a fish got stuck in the dock show-er, which is a shower that cycles water directly from the bay. I’ll also remember getting up early both days to see the sunrise. Another personal favorite was when we went to Smith Island to have a “Pittsburgh Meal” with the residents - chipped ham and pierogies, of course! On the last night, we walked around Isobel in complete silence. The coolest moment for me was when every-one tried to feel their way through the deep-est part of the woods in pitch black darkness, guided only by a rope. How surreal it was! On the bus ride home, many people were sad that they were leaving, but then again, the fun didn’t stop, as evidenced by the $1 pints of ice cream purchased by a couple kids at the food court Dairy Queen. The trip was

(Continued from page 4) a lot of fun for everybody, and I think everyone would love to go back.—Andrew M. dffWhen I was on Port Isobel,

the first thing I took in was the

scenery. The woods just behind

the cabins, the sun starting to

set; it was all gorgeous. Even

thinking that one day the is-

land wouldn’t be there, that

people wouldn’t be able to see

what I saw, made me want to

take in everything. We all

started with our own groups of

people, but by the morning of

the second day

we were all

brought together

by one thing: The

Grandma Mug.

During breakfast

that day we ran

out of cups, and I

let everyone else have one. I

started to look on the shelf of

mugs for something to use when

I saw it: a mug with

“GRANDMA” spelled

out on it, along with a

wonderful poem about

a grandma. I immedi-

ately grabbed it and

used it, and, as expected, people

questioned it. People started to

call me Grandma and before you

knew it I had “makeup” on. None

of us were really the judgmental

type. When one of us did some-

thing weird we all accepted it.

So when I walked downstairs for

dinner in makeup everyone start-

ed cheering and eventually

started coming over to the table

I was sitting at. I wore makeup

as well on the day we went back

to Crisfield. In the end, we all

wanted to stay for just a couple

more days, but we had to get

back home. Everyone had a great

time and if I could go back, I

absolutely would. –Christian G.

fffOur stay on Port Isobel (not Isabel, no matter how much au-tocorrect wants it to be) re-mains in my mind as a trip that was cozy and lighthearted. We

had no chance to be distracted by tech-nology or text noti-fications (we were-n’t allowed to have any electronics on the island), so it re-ally became all about

being a part of the group and “in the moment.” We weren’t even supposed to know what time it was—everything was just “island time.” Our phones weren’t really missed, though; there was so much to see and get excited about, like the visit to the swamp, the sight of the gor-geous sunset, the eagle nest in a nearby forest, and the section of woods that had been taken over by bamboo, that it would have been a wasted trip anyway if we had been on our phones.

Not to mention the food. The food was so delicious and

(Continued on page 9)

Volume 23, Issue 4

Chesapeake Bay Trip...

Page 7

put: Old Apple Acres That was the name her moth-

er had mentioned. Adalia was

happy when what looked like her

house popped up. She started

reading the history, skimming

over quickly

until she found

it. It was even

better than

Adalia was hop-

ing: there was

a grainy, black

and white picture about

halfway down the history. While

the person in the picture was

young, it was definitely the old

woman. What clued Adalia most

was the sapphire pendant hang-

ing from the woman’s neck. The

text below it read: The founder of Old Apple Acres was Harry

Miller and his wife, Myrtle Mil-ler. Many years after moving in, Myrtle and Harry had a

few grown up children, and lived by themselves again. Myrtle fell ill, and became delusional. She thought she was going to have children, and spent countless hours going through names for them. Minutes before her death, a mere week after becoming ill, Myrtle complained she hadn’t found a good enough name yet, and vowed to find the perfect

one. There are a few rumors that Old Apple Acres is haunted, but it really is just a lovely old place. Adalia had found the woman’s

name! She gathered herself and

walked up the attic

stairs, and the door

was still there. When

Adalia walked into

the room, the old

woman was there,

and she whipped

around.

“Name!”

Adalia found herself speech-

less—the old woman was drool-

ing, and it was like her skin was

just a fragile sheet over her

bones. Her eyes were rolling

crazily in her head, and Adalia

was desperately trying to re-

member the woman’s

name as the woman

stumbled towards her.

“Millie… Girtie?

Mittle. Skittle! Um…

Myrtle!”

Myrtle stopped,

and said nothing.

Then, before Adalia’s eyes, she,

as well as the children behind

her, melted into the carpet and

faded away.

Later that day, when Adalia’s

parents came home, they asked

Adalia what she had done all day.

Adalia shrugged and answered,

“Nothing much.”

THE END

Page 8 Carson Chronicle

A Mysterious Attic...

Most people would have been

completely terrified by then,

but Adalia was not like any other

person. Adalia was a girl who re-

fused to give

in unless abso-

lutely neces-

sary. So, in-

stead of giving

up, she chose

to kick the old

woman in the shins. Immediately,

the old woman dropped the pen-

dant and scrunched up her face

in pain.

hhhThat was when Adalia made

her escape. She flew like the

wind, down the stairs and into

her room. She knew that she

couldn’t just leave things as they

were. That old woman

had to go. But… how?

Adalia remembered

that, when she had

said Jonathan’s name,

he had disappeared.

So maybe… if she

could find out the old

woman’s name, she could get rid

of her? Adalia had no idea how

to get the old woman’s name, but

she had read her fair share of

horror stories. This old woman

was probably a ghost or some-

thing. After thinking that, Ada-

lia started rummaging through

her boxes until she found her

iPad. In desperate hope, she

planned on doing research on the

old house. In the search bar, she

(Continued from page 4)

chance to sample each of these items at some point during the trip. jjThe best part of the trip, how-

ever, would probably be the people. As the two students above have mentioned, eve-ryone on our island was very accepting. There was no fighting

at all during the trip—everyone just got along really well. No

judging occurred whatsoever, and all the students just kind of accepted each other as they were. We made so many good memories there, the least for-gettable being that of Grandma, but we had a lot of other inside jokes as well that I’m sure we’ll still remember in high school. I can’t say for Smith Island, but ask anyone who went to Port Isobel—we had a great time. –Maggie Mu

Volume 23, Issue 4

A Trip to the Bay...

Page 9

The ‘Tea’ on Being Sleep Deprived By Reina Harrison

“I’m so tired,;” “I literally didn’t

go to bed until 3 a.m.;” “I stayed

up all night just to study.” Sound

familiar? These simple phrases

are all things that most students

are guilty of saying. Sure,

you just really wanted to

get a good grade on your

math test, or you just

couldn’t resist binge

watching your favorite

Netflix show. We’ve all

been there, but once you learn

about the effects of sleep depri-

vation, you might want to rethink

staying up late.

Did you know that sleeping can

help fight off your illness? Not

getting enough sleep can deter-mine how long it will take you to

get back to one-hundred percent.

Basically, when you are asleep,

your body releases cytokines, a

protein, that will help promote

your sleep. These cytokines have

tired throughout the day. If

you’re in a sport, club, or have a

test, being tired is one of the

worst things that can happen to

you. No one wants to get caught

in a pop quiz and not have enough

energy to open their eyes. Not to

mention jogging around the gym-

nasium with bags under your eyes

bigger than your stack of home-

work! So, do yourself a favor and get about 7-8 hours of sleep. No

TV show is more important than

your precious beauty rest (well...

almost).

Wow! I think that we have def-

initely learned

something here—

getting enough

sleep is crucial to,

well, life! From

under-eye bags to bad memory,

the adverse effects should moti-

vate you to just get some sleep.

I promise that you won’t regret

it!

to increase when something

negative has happened to your

body such as an illness, infec-

tion, or even just stress. This

means that being sleep deprived

while sick can make you ill for

that much longer.

Next, a lack of sleep can

interfere with your learn-

ing. Now if this isn’t con-

cerning enough, it’s you we’re talking about! I’m

just joking, but sleep dep-

rivation can affect everything

from problem solving to our

ability to focus. Also, not get-

ting enough sleep can

worsen your memory.

This means that you

could forget the

things you’d learned,

experienced, and seen that day.

In short, if you want to be

dumb, don’t sleep.

Finally, not getting enough

sleep obviously makes you very

pretty healthy since it was local, so it didn’t clog up my system with artificial ingredients. There was crab cake, chocolate chip pancakes, cornbread pud-ding, veggie lasagna, kielbasa and more. It wasn’t all on the same day of course, but we got a

(Continued from page 7)

A reprint from the 1980s...

Summer Cryptogram—Each letter corresponds to a number.

Using the letters given to you as a start, you must figure

out what each number represents to solve the message.