CCSD news: Culinary arts, computers, and Winterfest

Churchill County High School

Students in Chase Johnson’s Culinary Arts class learned how to make ramen. Culinary Arts is one of many Career Technical Education courses offered at the high school.

Students have the opportunity to take Culinary Arts I, II & III. Culinary Arts I provides students with an introduction to the principles, chemistry and techniques of food preparation. The classroom is patterned after industry with an emphasis on the standards of food service occupations. Students acquire basic skills in food handling, food and nutritional science, equipment technology, cooking methods, kitchen safety, sanitation procedures, and employability skills.

Culinary Arts II allows intermediate culinary students to build on fundamental skills developed in Culinary Arts I. Students receive practical training in areas of food preparation, equipment use, merchandising, and service. Students are rotated through various culinary classifications. The appropriate use of technology and industry-standard equipment is an integral part of this course.

Then, Culinary Arts III provides students with instruction in advanced techniques and processes. They continue to develop all skills learned in Culinary Arts I and II. Upon successful completion of all three of these courses, students acquire the necessary entry-level skills for employment in the culinary arts field after graduation. If students are interested in taking Culinary Art classes, they need to meet with their counselor to get it on their schedule.

Churchill County Middle School

Parents joined CCMS staff for a night of games, snacks, raffle prizes, and fun. The purpose of family game night was to have an engaging night with parents and students as they went from room to room learning about each section of the Greenwave Parent Academy.

Parents watched videos on Infinite Campus, Google Classroom, Attendance, PBIS, Learner-Centered Framework and Standard-Based Grading. Families received a raffle ticket for watching each video and then played a game that aligned with the video. When parents completed the stations, they turned in their raffle tickets for the various prizes that were donated by the community.

Parent Engagement Nights are a crucial part of staff and parents connecting to help students be successful. It's important for families to be familiar with how their middle school students are learning. “These engagement nights connect our families with teachers and administration with the goal of creating a learning environment that promotes the success of all of our students,” said Vice Principal Deana Porretta.

Parents, be on the lookout for the next parent night in mid-January with a welcome to the second semester roundup. Parents and students will be able to go through their schedule and meet their new second-semester teachers for electives, science, or social studies while still getting to visit their math and English teachers.

All Greenwave Parent Academy videos and materials can be found on the CCMS website.

Numa

As part of recognizing Computer Science week, students in Travis Ryness’ fourth-grade class did a parade coding activity using Sphero Robots. Students used their 21^st century skills to code robots and had to make a Lego float for their Sphero robot, then created a parade route for it to travel down.

Ryness was impressed with his student's skills and said they did a great job building and collaborating with each other. His students thoroughly enjoyed this activity as well.

"Sphero robots are so amazing," said student Trinity Taylor.

E.C. Best

Students in Kari Lister's third-grade class also participated in coding activities this week with The Grinch Hour of Code. Lister chose this lesson as an introduction to coding and troubleshooting.

“We talked about perseverance and how to keep trying different algorithms to write the code to save Christmas,” Lister said.

Students had to use debugging skills to correct their code to make it all work. Hour of Code from code.org gives a variety of resources to get students started with coding.

“We are just beginning this unit in our classroom and I thought this particular lesson was perfect as an introduction because it was Christmas-oriented,” Lister said.

Coding is important because it helps students build problem-solving skills and teaches them to experiment and be creative. It is a skill they will benefit from learning, especially in a technology-driven world.

“My class loved it and they ask me every day if we can continue with the coding activities. The lessons are fun and engaging, so that is helpful as well,” Lister said.

Lahontan

Students and their families flooded Lahontan for the first Winterfest since 2019. This has been a treasured event for many years but due to COVID, LES was unable to host it for the safety of their students, families, and staff members.

Winterfest is a time to gather families and provide fun crafts and activities that students and their families can complete. It is a fundraiser for the school that supports activities for students throughout the year including the end of the year celebration.

This year students and their families made fun Christmas crafts, enjoy yummy treats, get their face painted, play fun holiday games such as Santa Ring Toss, Pin the Nose on Rudolph, Snowball Toss and Snowman Bowling, and they even got to meet and get a picture with Santa.

There were some incredible themed baskets created by each class for a silent auction and there were some great raffle items for families to win as well. It was a night jam-packed with fun for the entire family to kick off the holiday season.