Lit Circle 5

For our fifth lit circle we discussed the last two chapters which is from pages 116-142. On page 116 Cruz showed up at Coach Carters house saying that he wanted to come back and play for the Richmond High Oilers again. The next day Coach Carter had a meeting in the library with the Board of Education. Teachers, students, parents of players, and community members were all present at the meeting. The meeting first started off by the Board of Education talking to caoch Carter about the GPA requirements. Coach carter required the team to maintain a 2.3 GPA when the state only required a 2.0. People began yelling at Coach Carter. One of the teachers motioned to end the lockout. The motion was passed. Choach Carter stood and replied, "You will not have to terminate me, I will quit." The next day Ken Carter was heading to the school to pack up his things, as he walked into the gym he saw the Richmond High basketball team members sitting in desks working on homework, or studying. Lyle stood up and said "Sir, they can cut the chain off the door but they cant make us play." One week later, Ken Cater walked into the library where his team was studying,he gave the team good news by telling them that they can now play basketball again. Coach Carter was proud of his team because they had achieved their goals, as a team. The next day they had a game against Arlington. The Richmond High Oilers were back in action, they had won their first game since the lockout. Following the game the team members went to Coach Carters office to see if they had made the playoffs. The phone rang and Mr. Carter answered it, he told their team that they had made it to the playoffs. They found out that their next game would be against St. Francis. A few days later the Richmond High Oilers were going to be facing there toughest opponet yet. They go into the game knowing that it was going to be a battle. The boys basketball team ended up loosing against St. Francis, of course the team was sad. Coach Carter told the team that they had not lost the game they had just ran out of time.

The Richmond Oilers did not win the state championship... but they won nine college scholarships.

Junior Battle went to UNLV on a full scholarship.

Timo Cruz attended Tulane University and returned to California to become the starting quarter back for Humboldt State University.

Kenyon Stone attends San Jose State University and is currently considered a lock for the NFL draft.

Damien Carter continued to dominate the league as a guard for Richmond. He eventually broke the scoring and assists records previously owned by his father Ken Carter. Upon graduation from Richmond in 2001, Damien Carter recieved a full scholarship to West Point.

Ken Carter still lives in Richmond remains close with his sisters...all seven of them. Carter continues to run the Coach Carter Foundation, the focus of which is education.

Thinking Question 5

When the Richmond Oilers lost to St. Francis they had a hard time realizing that they were so close to being the champions. But when they went into the locker room, they came to realize that just because they didn't win the game, doesn't mean that lost everything. Have you ever had one of those moments and if so, explain.

Coach Carter -- The End

At the end of reading Coach Carter, we came together to talk about our likes and dislikes of the book, the general message we got, and the similarities between the movie and the novel.

*Likes*
--Damien deciding to transfer from St. Francis to Richmond High School so he can be coached by his father.
--Ken Carter remaining strong and not giving up when his team seemed to be rebelling against him and his theories about school being first.
--Carter staying true to his contracts even though the public didn't like them.
--When the whole basketball team came together as a family and decided that they were going to stick together.

*Dislikes*
--Coach Carter locking out his players from the High School gym because they failed to follow their contracts.
--Timo Cruz leaving the team because he felt like he was better than the team and didn't need to follow any contract.
--When all of the player's parents and the school board felt like Ken Carter making the contracts was a bad idea and that there was no way that the students can follow them.
--Because of Richmond High School lockout the Oilers had to forfeit two basketball games to end their perfect game-winning streak.

Coach Carter the movie was very much like the book. All of the events in the book basically were similar in the movie. We liked the movie and the book a lot. We would recommend reading the book if you want to be inspired and motivated to achieve what you dream of and if you want to work hard to get something that you want.

The message we got from the book was that when things are tough in your life, whether it's with your family, growing up on the wrong side of the neighborhood, or just going through tough times, you have a choice. You can either let your life continue the way it is now or choose to change and work hard to achieve anything you want.

Thinking Question 4

Coach Ken Carter made national news when he locked the gym doors at Richmond High School because the backetball players failed to obey their contracts. Have you ever been in a position when you had to follow some sort of a contract before? What would have happened if you failed to follow it?

Lit Circle 4

Our fourth lit circle was based on chapters 8-10. Chapter 8 started off by Coach Cater taking the team to the hotel after a big win. As the night progressed Coach Carter went to go talk to Damien when he found out that his son nor the team were in their rooms. Coach went out in search for his team and found them at a local party. Carter walked into the party where there was loud music and drinking going on. He saw his son and the rest of the team in the pool drinking Mountain Dew with vodka. He brought the team back to the hotel to retrieve their things and immediately headed back to the school. Coach Carter went to his office and found the progress reports of his team on his desk and read the results, the results were horrible. The next day players were heading to the gym and found a sign on the door saying practice cancelled. Many of the players thought that he was just giving them a day off. The players went to Coach Carters office and found out that they cannot play basketball until they get their grades back up. A few days had passed, there haden't been any practice for a while and the Freemont game was tomorrow. Coach was getting lots of phone calls about the game whether he would unlock the gym or make the team forfite the game. He decided that it was the best choice to forfite the game and give Richmond High their first loss of the season. Many parents because of the lock out were very angry at Coach Carter.

Thinking Question 3

Richmond players overcame their own David and Goliath moment by winning the tournament. Have you ever had one of those moments that you have overcame?

Lit Circle 3

In our third lit circle we discussed why the team was acting like a family and then doing things that was getting the team into trouble. We also discussed why Coach Carter was pushing his team so hard to become better students. Mr. Carter believed that his team should become a student before an athlete. Coach Carter thought that many of the Richmond High boys basketball players could indeed get a scholarship to some college to play basketball. Even though he believed this he still thought that his players needed an education so that if for some reason they couldn't get a scholarship they could still get an education after high school. A few questions that we discussed during our lit circle were; would you be embarrassed if one of your parents were to come into the lockeroom during halftime of a very important game? Another question was how are your parents different or alike to Coach Carter reguarding not letting Damien go out with his friends.

Thinking Question 2

When Damien first attended St.Francis he had to maintain a 3.5 GPA, when he switched to Richmond High he was required to maintain a 3.7 GPA. Do your parents expect you to do well in school? If you dont are there consequences?

Lit Circle 2

Our second reading was from pages 25-50, which this came to be our second lit circle. Chapter 3 started with Coach Carter's son Damien playing basketball in their driveway which turned into an argument about Damien wanting to transfer from St. Francis to Richmond High. One statement from the argument was this "You making me go to St. Francis doesn't feel like a choice." Damien pointed out. "Damien-" "If I've got a choice," Damien interrupted, "I choose Richmond." From there Damien turned and walked out of the kitchen, this conversation was now over. Coach Carter had a meeting for all basketball players and at least one parent. This meeting was reguarding the contract and the rules that the players must abide by. A few days later Damien comes home and has the transfer papers from Richmond High. He brings them to his dad and was able to convince his father to sign them. The following day Damien attends Richmond High and is late for his first day of basketball practice. Damien's consequence was no different than any other player on the team just because he was Coach Carters son he did not receive any special treatment.

Thinking Question 1

Coach Carter helped out his old high school by coming back and coaching a less fortunate team. Have you ever helped a group of people or someone in a big way even though you lost most your free time?

Lit. Circle 1

In our first Literature circle, we discussed pages 1-25. In those first 2 chapters, we are introduced to a former Richmond High School student and all star basketball player Ken Carter, who came back to the school after being offered a coaching spot from the head coach. Carter excepts the job after some thinking it over and disscussing the idea with his girlfriend. His son, Damien, goes to the St. Francis school and isn't sure if he likes the idea of his father coaching for a different school since Carter always coached him at home. Soon after, Damien realized that he doesn't want to be coached by someone else so he tranfered from his old school to the Richmond High School. On the first day of basketball practice, Carter proposes a contract to the players that states they must arrive on time to practice everyday, and the players have to maintain at least 2.3 grade point average. Some of the players do not like that idea and rebel against Carter. In the end of the day, the other Richmond High School basketball players start to trust Coach Carter and start to become a complete team.