Senator Square: Carson High School students off for winter break

This will be our last column until after the school break. Congratulations to all of our students and staff for surviving finals and finishing up this semester. This column will return on Jan. 10. I hope everyone has a restful break.

ALUM PRESENTS REFUGEE INFO

Carson High School alum, Kaitlin Brush (class of 2004), presented to social studies on the definition of refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons, and the current refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe and how different European countries are working to address the growing number of refugees. Briefly, Brush also provided first-hand information of the process of Syrian refugees applying for entry into the United States. She shared with students about how her education at CHS, University of Nevada, Reno and law school provided the foundation for her unique, international career. Ms. Brush currently lives and works in Amman, Jordan, for UNICEF in the Child Protection branch. She shared with students what her daily work is like providing services to refugees in a large refugee camp. Her timely presentation provided a greater awareness of the situation and an avenue of discussion for world history and government classes to further learn about current events and consider multiple perspectives on the issue. Thank you, Kaitlin, for generously donating your time and sharing your expertise with your alma mater — we are so proud of you!

CHS STUDENT ON TV

Senior Noah Jennings will appear on the 12th Annual Nevada Newsmakers Teen Edition, which first airs at noon Thursday on KRNV-Channel 4 Reno. Noah appears with eight other high school students from across Nevada to discuss current events with host, Sam Shad. Students applied and were selected based on their responses to questions regarding their activities, interests, goals and suggestions for topics that are of interest to today’s young adults. The teens served in panels of three to discuss different current issues and share their opinions. The show will air on television numerous, as well as Sunday morning, Dec. 27, beginning at 7 a.m. on News Talk KOH 780 AM Reno. Good job, Noah. We’ll be watching your interview.

NJROTC NEWS

The CHS NJROTC drill teams attended the Washoe County School District Drill Meet where they placed third in Armed Exhibition Drill, third in Academic Bowl, and fifth in Color Guard. Congratulations to the Carson High School NJROTC cadets.

GRAPHIC DESIGN CLASS

Ms. Ababio’s Graphic Design III class authored, illustrated, and designed their own children’s books using Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, which are all part of the Adobe Suite software. The students were asked to create a story with an authentic character, a focus on preschool or elementary school-aged children, and have a moral to their story. The books were laminated and bound. This experience gave advanced graphic design students the opportunity to create real-world projects using industry-standard software and equipment.

SPEECH/DEBATE NEWS

A large congratulations to our debate team who competed last Friday and Saturday at McQueen. On Friday, Scarlett Baeza placed fourth in novice storytelling with her piece, Esperanza Rising. Kate Torres and Adam Lackey placed fourth in novice duo with their cutting of the classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Sawyer Barnett and Bailee Barber took fourth in senior duo with their piece titled Window of Opportunity. Sadie Share placed fourth in expository speaking reviewing the conspiracy theories around the Denver International Airport. On Saturday for debate, Sandro Figueroa received first in speaker points in senior public forum. He and his partner, Evan Cherpeski, placed third overall in senior public forum debate looking at the value of standardized testing. Evan also ranked eighth in speaker points. In senior Lincoln Douglas debate, Shaylin Segura received fifth in speaker points and third place overall debating the benefits of jury nullification. Carson High hosts the league this coming Jan. 29 and 30. We will need 100 volunteer judges to hold this tournament. Judging is entertaining and educational. Anyone interested in helping can contact Patrick Mobley at pmobley@carson.k12.nv.us.

NEW MATH PROGRAM & CONTEST

Kim Whisler and Sarah Lobsinger are math coordinators for the Carson City School District. They are passionate about math and want to help the families in our community realize that math can be fun. In fact, there are things that parents can do to help increase their child’s math awareness in the world around them. Carson City Counts is their way of reaching out to the community. They want to offer resources to families to help build math confidence. They are in the process of building a web page to host ideas and links, but before they can finalize it they need some help. On Jan. 5, they are starting a contest asking students to develop a logo for Carson City Counts.

Contest Directions: Please help us create a logo for our math campaign, Carson City Counts. Any child under the age of 19 years of age may participate. The contest winner will have their logo displayed around the community and on the website. There will be prizes for the top three entries. Turn in your designs by Jan. 31 to any of the following businesses: north Starbucks, 3228 N. Carson St. Suite 15; Dutch Bros., Dunkin’ Donuts, Carson City Library, or any Carson City school office. If you have any questions about the campaign or contest, please contact Sarah Lobsinger at 775-283-1668 or slobsinger@carson.k12.nv.us.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

This week’s student of the week is Amy Ahumada. She has great attendance, a great attitude and she works hard on every activity and assignment. Thanks, Amy, for all your hard work.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week’s senior spotlight is on Matthew McCarthy. Matt has a weighted grade-point average of 4.5 and is continuing his rigorous academic schedule by taking several AP and Honors classes during his senior year. He has been on the varsity golf team at Carson High School for three years and plans to participate again this spring. He was also a member of the Carson High School wrestling team for two years. In addition, Matt is a member of National Honor Society. He is the vice-president of the Mountain Biking Club and has participated in Key Club for two years. Matt has been accepted into the UNR Engineering Program where he hopes to be able to spend a semester abroad in Spain. Carson High is proud of the contribution Matt has made to the class of 2016.

Angila Golik is a government teacher at CHS and a member of Senator Pride.