Senator Square: Carson High speech and debate students fare well at Spanish Springs

Carson High School competed at the Spanish Springs tournament last weekend for speech and debate. Twenty-one Carson High debaters competed on Friday and 16 students competed Saturday. Several students brought home top honors at this tournament that had about 470 entries. Competing in senior level debate for the first time Evan Cherpeski took 10th place in Public Forum speaking point. In senior Lincoln Douglas debate speaker points, team captain Baliee Barber took sixth place and Shaylin Segura took second. Duy Nguyen took sixth place overall in senior impromptu speaking while team mate Sandro Figueroa took third. Captains Baliee Barber and Sawyer Barnet both advanced to final round of senior original third with his speech on gender equality. Alek Henricksen took third place overall in novice Lincoln Douglas on the topic of Jury nullification as well as second place in speaker points. He now advances to senior level debate competition. Finally, Shane Morton won senior humorous interpretation for the second time this year and has established himself as the top competitor in this event in Northern Nevada. Carson High debaters also competed in the Poetry Out Loud competition. Alyxandra Perry took fourth, Sarah Sever placed third, Sophie Peterson claimed second, and Shaylin Segura took the top spot. In the coming weeks, the team will compete in the American Legion Oratorical contest as well as the McQueen tournament before the end of the semester.

KIDS IN TRANSITION

Students in transition need your help. Carson City School District currently has 400 students in transition and this number continues to grow. These students are in need of socks, personal items, and toiletries. Please help by donating items or cash donations. All cash donations raised go directly to the Mckinney-Vento Student in Transition program. Drop off locations are here at the high school, Lakeridge Tennis Club, Fritsch Elementary School, Business and Industry Real Estate Division, and A Pawsitive Image.

SCHOOL MURAL CONTEST

For school beauty, we’re having a mural contest open for all CHS students. The mural’s theme should portray positivity while trying to use recycled materials. All designs need to be submitted to the leadership room or Mrs. Britt’s box in the office, no later than Nov. 27. One entry per student. Be as creative as possible.

KINDNESS WALL

We have a Kindness Wall going up across from the finance office. Head on down there and write something nice about someone or something nice in general.

BANKING STUDENTS CREATE VIDEO

Carson High School students from Greater Nevada Credit Union’s educational branch have helped launch a video series on financial education. The participating students, who are part of the Banking Class curriculum, chose their financial topic and talked about it in the video to help share information with other students. The series kicked off with two short videos, with more planned in the near future. They can be viewed on Greater Nevada Credit Union’s YouTube Channel Playlist at “Carson High School Educational Videos.” You can also view them on Greater Nevada’s website at gncu.org/carson-high.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

This week’s student of the week is Mackenzie Gilliam. Mackenzie brings a positive attitude to class each day and embraces challenges with enthusiasm. She interacts well in groups and often takes a leadership role. She listens well, follows instructions and asks great questions. Thanks for all your hard work at Carson High, Mackenzie!

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week’s Senior Spotlight shines on Hector Gomez-Barrios. Hector has a GPA of 4.27 and is furthering his academic pursuits by taking three AP classes, an honors class and an advanced study technology class. He has excelled in math, science and computer technology and will graduate with all four diplomas.

Hector also has been active in extracurricular activities at school. He was on the soccer team freshman and sophomore years, cross-country team junior and senior year, and the track and field team all four years. He was captain of the track team last year and hopes to continue in this capacity when the season starts this spring. He competed for the team last year at state, where he specializes in the 200 and 400 meters. Hector has also been a member of Skills USA all four years and joined HOSA this year.

Hector’s talent extends beyond school and sports. He taught himself to play guitar and writes his own music. He will be recording a few selections of his own material as part of his Senior Project. Even as he furthers his education after high school, Hector still wants to continue with his music. He would like to attend the University of Washington next year with a major in biology. He would eventually like to pursue a career in the medical field. Carson High is proud of the contributions Hector has made to our school and we wish him the best of luck.

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