CCSD news: High school hosts eighth-graders for school showcase

Churchill County High School and Middle School

CCHS hosted eighth-graders from CCMS last week for the annual high school showcase event. High school counselor Casey Ritenour planned the event with the help of other high school support staff.

“I could not do it without the help of the other counselors and staff members. We got a ton of support from our club advisers as well,” Ritenour said. “It was really cool to see it all come together for the eighth-grade students.

High school students from Naval JROTC, student council and other clubs volunteered to take the middle school groups around to tour the school and visit classrooms. Classes featured in the showcase were culinary arts, NJROTC, construction/welding, health science, art, digital game design, Spanish, auto shop, agriculture/FFA, multimedia, band/choir and theatre.

Students also spent time in the library where they visited club tables and met with high school counselors to go over courses they signed up for. Eighth-grade students were glad they had this opportunity.

“It was cool to see the school, eat in the cafeteria with my friends, and I got to go to all the classes I was interested in which helped me narrow down which ones I for sure want to sign up for,” said eighth-grade student Justine Downs.

Numa

In partnership with Vitalant, Numa hosted a blood drive last week. At the drive, there were 38 registered donors, 34 whole blood donations, and three power red cell donations collected.

“These donations can potentially help 117 hospital patients,” Aimee Guthree, who’s with Vitalant. “Numa’s reach was enormous. Please extend our sincerest gratitude to your donors.”

Students in Lisa Solinski’s class received a pizza party for bringing in the most donors.

“Our students are really working on becoming global citizens by showing empathy to others and demonstrating civic responsibility,” Solinski said. “They took the task of bringing in donors to save lives seriously. One of my students brought in seven people to donate.”

E.C. Best

Students in Christine Mori’s physical education classes have been working on the fundamentals of soccer. Because soccer is popular and accessible, Mori feels it is important to teach all of her students the fundamentals of the game.

When building her curriculum, she tries to pick subjects she thinks will give students the most bang for their buck.

“I ask myself what skills are most relevant and most likely to be used by the students,” she said. “Because soccer can easily be played daily at recess or at home, I think learning the game and the fundamentals are important skill sets to teach them.”

Lahontan

LES hosted a family science night and book fair on Wednesday evening. This is the fourth family engagement night that LES has hosted this year.

“After doing Bingo for Books, Pirate Literacy and crafts at Winterfest, we knew we wanted to host a science night,” said Literacy Specialist Katy Loop.

Students and their families were able to move from one station to another and participate in an array of science-themed activities including dissolving a Styrofoam cup, making elephant toothpaste, dancing popcorn kernels, oobleck, building a structure, and more.

“My staff is incredible and really went above and beyond to make this event fun for not just our students but their families as well – I couldn’t be more proud,” Principal Kimi Melendy said.

Northside Early Learning Center

Students in Sandy Vanderbeek’s class worked with playdough during free play on Monday.

“Playdough is a childhood favorite that we love to use in our classrooms. There are so many benefits that come with such a seemingly simple activity,” Vanderbeek said.

Playdough helps develop fine motor skills because while the student is molding it into different shapes and pressing gems into it they are actually building up strength in their hands.

“The act of squishing, rolling, and flattening helps them develop the muscles in their hands they use for fine mortar movements such as holding a pencil or using a pair of scissors,” Vanberbeek said.

Other benefits include encouraging creativity, enhancing hand-eye coordination, promoting playtime instead of screen time, improving social skills as they play with others, supporting literacy and numeracy as they count, make shapes, and even measure, and it is calming and can help ease tension and improve focus.